Terrelle Pryor is proving that he truly can handle being the Oakland Raiders' starting quarterback. He can make the big plays himself or he can step back and recognize when someone else can step up in a situation. After getting his first win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pryor played the role of game manager and head coach Dennis Allen is loving it.
The only thing the Jaguars did successfully on Sunday is eliminate the big plays that Pryor is known to create. As a dual-threat quarterback, Jacksonville stayed committed to stopping Pryor's running ability. In an attempt to get Pryor to make mistakes throwing the ball, the quarterback instead managed the situation by letting running back Darren McFadden get the spotlight.
"There weren't a lot of opportunities to throw the ball today," Pryor said, via CSNBayArea.com. "The defense was playing well and we were running strong, so we didn't need to throw much. We had a lead and the coaches wanted to keep grinding with the run. We did what we had to do to win."
McFadden put up 129 yards off 19 carries while also having 28 yards on four receptions. Pryor recognized what was working and stuck with it. Statistically while Pryor did not make big plays, he did improve from his performance against the Indianapolis Colts. He was 15-of-24 in passing for 126 yards and zero turnovers. His one regret came when the offense consistently stalled in the redzone, resulting in a win by field goals.
"I don't like field goals," Pryor said. "They're better than nothing, but we want to score touchdowns. That's always our goal, but we were happy to keep putting points on the board. We have to get better in the red zone, and be more efficient in that area."
Allen notes that Pryor may not have been as dynamic as he was in Week 1, but his decision making improved which is something the team will take. Allen called the quarterback a much improved "game manager" which is all part of the growing process for a young quarterback.
"Everything we do with Terrelle is a growing process," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "That's what you deal with having young players. He also plays a position where there's a lot of learning involved. Every play, every game is a learning experience. There were some good things he did in the game. There were some things we have to work on, but that's part of football. We'll keep working and he'll keep getting better."
