Over the offseason, we heard some buzz about the Raiders potentially expanding Marcus Mariota’s role in the offense. Even Richie Incognito said that the team should consider using him more in the red zone to solve some of their scoring woes.
In Week 1, we saw Mariota come onto the field early in the game and rip off a 31-yard run to get the Raiders in scoring position. Unfortunately, that will be the last time we see him for a while in the offense.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Mariota suffered a quad injury that will keep him out for several weeks. The expectation is that Mariota will go on the injured reserve list, meaning that he will be out a minimum of three games.
#Raiders QB Marcus Mariota is expected to be out multiple weeks after aggravating a quad injury during a 31-yard run on Monday night, source said. A few weeks is the best case scenario. This robs Las Vegas of a weapon, as they planned to sprinkle Mariota in on offense.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2021
While it’s not a big blow to the offense for the Raiders, it does take away another weapon that Jon Gruden was excited to use throughout the season. With Mariota out for the foreseeable future, Nathan Peterman is set to be the team’s No. 2 quarterback. Needless to say, you won’t see Peterman doing a Mariota impression in this offense anytime soon.