Josh McDaniels setting a low bar for Jarrett Stidham already

Josh McDaniels made a big change for the Raiders as he’s benching Derek Carr for Jarrett Stidham, but he’s not sounding too confident in his new QB.

Even with the struggles of the Las Vegas Raiders this season, it was a tremendous surprise when first-year head coach Josh McDaniels made the decision to bench quarterback Derek Carr for the final two games of the 2022 campaign. Now, Jarrett Stidham is set to close out the season for the silver and black.

Stidham isn’t completely unfamiliar to NFL fans as he spent several seasons with the New England Patriots as a backup. He’s also appeared in 11 career games, three this season in Las Vegas, but will be making his first career start on Sunday against the 49ers.

But if you’re wondering how confident McDaniels is in his new quarterback, his remarks on Friday don’t seem like a head coach who’s overly confident in what’s about to happen against one of the best defenses in the league.

Josh McDaniels doesn’t seem to expect much from Jarrett Stidham in first Raiders start

When asked about what he’s seen from Stidham and what he expects, McDaniels was quite blunt about the situation. He noted that the 26-year-old looked eager and excited for the opportunity, as he should be. But then it went a bit downhill.

“Jarrett’s definitely hard at work at it,” McDaniels said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’ve no delusions of grandeur in terms of this is going to be perfect. It wouldn’t matter who we were playing with, against this defense it wouldn’t be perfect, but we’re going to strive to do our best.”

In a day and age when we often see coaches hype up the new starter for what they’ve done in practice, it’s almost refreshing to see McDaniels say that he has a young, excited QB making his first start but that all Stidham and the team can do is their best, which won’t be perfect. Translation: Get ready for a long Sunday of football if you’re a Raiders fan.

This is clearly going to be a time of transition for Las Vegas with Carr benched and leaving the team as Stidham takes over. But if you’re reading the coach-speak here, no matter how refreshing it is, that could make for a tenuous final two games of the season.