Gruden optimistic Carr will play vs. Dolphins, won't 'let cat out of the bag'

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden wasn't ready to divulge who will play quarterback in Saturday's must-win game against the Miami Dolphins.

Derek Carr practiced all week after suffering a groin injury in last Thursday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Marcus Mariota stepped in for Carr and nearly led the Raiders to victory.

"We'll see what happens here tomorrow in terms of which way we go, but we'll have two quarterbacks prepared to play," Gruden said in Thursday's press conference.

Gruden was careful to state only that he's "optimistic" Carr will be ready to play, keeping in mind how difficult it can be to recover from a groin injury.

"I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag here, I'm going to make sure he is OK," he said. "I'm going to make sure that physically he has the chance to wake up in the morning and go through his rehab one more day and do all the things that he needs to do against one of the top defenses that blitzes almost every play."

Gruden added that defensive end Clelin Ferrell, linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski and Nicholas Morrow, safety Erik Harris, and corner Daryl Worley all will miss Saturday's game.

Receiver Henry Ruggs III returned to practice Thursday and the team is hopeful he'll be available versus the Dolphins. There also remains a chance offensive coordinator Greg Olson will return after an absence due to COVID-19 protocols.