Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen isn't ready to anoint Derek Carr his Week 1 quarterback after the rookie closed out the preseason with a brilliant performance against the Seattle Seahawks.
Allen told reporters on a conference call Friday that he wants to monitor the status of Matt Schaub's sore elbow before making a final call early next week.
Schaub was not at team headquarters on Friday because of a "personal issue that he's dealing with," the head coach added.
Allen recently insisted there are no concerns with Schaub's elbow.
Common sense and the threat of locker room upheaval suggest the Raiders have no choice but to go with either Carr or Matt McGloin as the starter.
Allen has bungled this process from the beginning, however. Can Raiders fans trust him to make the right decision if he denies seeing a lack of arm strength from a quarterback who can no longer throw convincingly beyond 10 yards?
If football acumen trumps financial commitment, Allen will go with a younger quarterback capable of making plays beyond the line of scrimmage. In which case, it's entirely possible that Schaub will never take a regular-season snap for the Raiders.
The latest "Around The NFL Podcast" hands out the first annual Preseason Awards and predicts the major winners of the regular-season awards.
