Terrelle Pryor owes everything to Al Davis and he knows it. When Pryor was preparing to enter the NFL, he had not seen a football field in a year following an NCAA suspension for accepting benefits. He was forced to participate in a supplemental draft and David and the Raiders were the only team willing to take a chance on him. Fast forward and Pryor is now the starting quarterback in Oakland and showing plenty of potential in the role.
"I owe Mr. Davis,'' Pryor said, via MMQB. "This man believed I'd be a star quarterback. He said that to me multiple times. He took a chance on me when other teams wouldn't. And I think he was smiling down a little bit today, watching this. This may sound crazy, but every day I'm thankful for what he did for me. "
Pryor did his part to repay him on Sunday. While the Raiders may have gotten the loss against the Indianapolis Colts, the quarterback was the silver lining. Pryor put up 217 passing yards, 112 rushing yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions. Overall, he did exactly what the Oakland coaches wanted him to do.
Pryor told Peter King that Davis gave him a chance to live out his dream and that is exactly what he is doing now. While the quarterback may have described his performance on Sunday as "awful", the quarterback received plenty of praise for his poise and leadership on the field.
It is confirmed that Pryor will get another chance to show off his ability to lead the Raiders on Sunday. Head coach Dennis Allen has named the quarterback the starter against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Veteran Matt Flynn continues to suffer from elbow tendinitis making the decision to stick with Pryor an easy one.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was awful," Allen said, via Mercury News. "But he also understands that there's some critical mistakes in the game that we got to get corrected because we can't have those."
Teammates have noticed the talent that Pryor possesses. His ability to be a mobile quarterback allows the team to open the playbook up more and get more creative at confusing the defenses. They did that for the most part on Sunday. Colts veteran defensive end Robert Mathis notes that he was exhausted after chasing Pryor all over the field. The result is that the quarterback is one of the league's leading rushers after Week 1. Teammates like Charles Woodson are loving it.
"There are a lot of people that don't think much of Terrelle Pryor and don't think much of this team," Woodson said. "We made some plays and we showed well. When you get that close, though, you have to finish the job. In the future, we will."
