Derek Carr leaves Broncos game early with back injury after being hit

Every Oakland Raiders fan cringed on Sunday afternoon when quarterback Derek Carr was hit, grabbed his back and didn’t get up right away in a 16-10 loss in Denver.

Carr was scrambling around to avoid the pass rush when he ran forward. Carr was going down and was hit high by Denver Broncos lineman Adam Gotsis. Carr’s torso bent forward and he immediately reached for his back.

Carr was down for a few moments, but eventually walked off under his own power. EJ Manuel replaced him at quarterback. After Manuel finished out the series, Carr walked back to the locker room gingerly.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said Carr’s back tightened up and made it sound like this won’t be a long-term issue.

It was a strange coincidence that Tony Romo was calling the game for CBS. Romo was tackled on a similar play last year, in which he was tackled and bent forward in the preseason and injured his back. Romo would never start a game for the Cowboys again.

It was a bad flashback for Raiders fans. Last season Carr was tackled in an awkward way late in the season against the Indianapolis Colts, and broke his leg. The Raiders completely fell apart without him in Week 17 and a playoff game against the Houston Texans.

The Raiders had Super Bowl hopes this season, but that’s obviously centered around Carr, who briefly became the highest paid player in NFL history this summer. Now the Raiders need to hope their franchise quarterback is OK, or their season could go sour quickly.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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