It was an unfortunate end to a great season last Saturday for Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, as he fractured his fibula in the fourth quarter of a win against the Indianapolis Colts, requiring surgery and effectively ending his season.
It was a tough break, literally and figuratively, for the Raiders as they are in the midst of their best season in over a decade, partly thanks to Carr’s stellar play.
Carr was having his best season as a pro, as he was recently named to his second straight Pro Bowl and is in the discussion for the league MVP award.
At 12-3 the Raiders are just one win away from clinching the AFC West and a first round bye in the postseason. With Carr at quarterback they had Super Bowl aspirations, but now must regroup.
Carr underwent successful surgery on the fibula on Tuesday, and many people wished him well on his recovery. One of those people is Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who took to Twitter to give advice to Carr:
Come back better than ever @derekcarrqb #muse #dominaterecovery https://t.co/AsWubGEfhW
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) December 28, 2016
Carr, who is a big Bryant fan and even mentioned earlier this season how he embraces Bryant’s ‘Mamba mentality’, responded to Bryant’s tweet stating how much it meant to him:
No problem! Thank you for the motivation! Means more than you know! https://t.co/c57sUVr9T7
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) December 28, 2016
With Carr out the Raiders turn to backup Matt McGloin to take the reigns under center. McGloin has not started a game since his rookie year in 2013 when he went 1-5 in six starts for Oakland, but this is a much different Raiders team so he will not be asked to do too much to be successful.