Raiders QB Geno Smith suffers quad contusion in Thursday night loss to Broncos
Despite the injury, he managed to cover 49 yards on four of four passes, with 42 of those yards being the Raiders’ longest of the night. However, a sack and a false start forced the Raiders to punt the ball back to the Broncos from midfield.
Smith also spent Denver’s next drive in the blue tent, but he was back in action after the team advanced five yards into Broncos territory following cornerback Q Blue Kelly’s second interception of the night.
Carroll said, “He wanted to come back even more. He wanted to finish the game for his teammates. He got hurt in the quad. A quad injury or something, any injury, whatever. He got punched. That’s his fight.”
Smith was fighting, but perhaps he was also stiff. He was moving around even more cautiously, and on the next drive, he was almost entirely responsible for handoffs. Despite trailing late in the fourth quarter, the Raiders completed four consecutive passes with Ashton Jeanty. Smith didn’t attempt a pass until Las Vegas’ third-and-six play, which fell incomplete.
Daniel Carlson then missed a 48-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the score on the next snap, giving the Broncos the ball back with 4:26 remaining.
As Denver began to take full advantage of the timeout, Las Vegas declared Smith’s return doubtful.
“He wouldn’t have been able to return the next time. He wasn’t supposed to. But he tried,” Carroll said.
Any additional heroics from Pickett didn’t pay off. Amidst defensive struggles, the Broncos found a rhythm that both teams had been unable to maintain all night, gaining three first downs, leaving the Raiders without even seeing the ball.
The loss drops Las Vegas’ season record to 2-7, leaving them one defeat away from their second four-game losing streak of the year.
Smith hasn’t lived up to his established standards over the last half of his career, starting with his 2022 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year campaign as a Seattle Seahawk under Pete Carroll.
Smith, who moved to Vegas to reunite with his old coach, has thrown for 1,844 yards, 11 touchdowns, and a league-high 12 interceptions in nine games. Now, he must recover from a quad injury suffered during the team’s mini-bye period to play—and hopefully start—against the Cowboys on Monday Night Football on November 17.
Fortunately, it’s not a major injury, but it’s another blow to a Raiders team struggling to find success in Carroll and Smith’s first year in Sin City.