Raiders tackle says Derek Carr told him he's 'almost 100 percent' healthy

The Raiders' starting quarterback broke his leg late in the 2016 season

The Oakland Raiders took a major blow late in the 2016 season when star quarterback Derek Carr got rolled up on and broke his fibula. Carr was in the midst of his best season, and Oakland’s playoff hopes basically died when his leg snapped. (The mic’d up audio of him screaming “It’s broke!” over and over again may as well have referred to the Raiders’ season as much as his leg.) An injury that serious, of course, necessitated surgery, which Carr underwent just a few days after suffering the injury. 

Roughly two months later, Carr is almost back to full-strength, according to the man that protects his blind side, Raiders left tackle Donald Penn. 

“I texted Derek two days ago and asked how he was doing, checking in, and he texted me and said ‘I’m almost 100 percent,” Penn said on NFL Total Access. 

Derek Carr’s brother, former NFL quarterback and current NFL Network analyst David Carr, was standing right there and said, “I tell you guys he’s 100 percent but you don’t believe me, you have to ask Donald. He’s going to be great. He’s good. Walking around already, stretching it out. He can’t do a lot for the bone, but he’s going to be back. He’ll get a whole full offseason in, and that’s going to be the best part.”

If and when Carr does get back on the field (which sounds like it could be soon), he is expected to have more control over the offensive game plan. New offensive coordinator Todd Downing said earlier this offseason that he wants Carr to be more involved in planning the offense than he has been in the past. 

“There’s been a lot made about his command at the line of scrimmage. There’s certainly going to be opportunities for Derek to do that,” Downing said, per ESPN.com. “... Where I see him needing a little bit more command is just being able to share his thoughts of game plans. Being a student of the game, as he already is, but vocalize what he likes and doesn’t like. I think my relationship with him is something that’s going to give him the opportunity to voice his opinions. I look forward to him really taking charge of expressing his thoughts on the offense.”