Raiders' Derek Carr: Pinkie finger 'little sore but that's expected'

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr told a Bay Area radio station on his weekly appearance Monday that his injured right pinkie finger still hurt and was swollen, but he expected no lingering effects.

"I'm doing good, I'm doing good," Carr told 95.7 The Game host JT The Brick. "Obviously, it's a little sore, but that's expected. But it should be good. Just get the swelling down, and it will be all right."

Carr offered no further details on the injury, which appeared to be a dislocation after a mistimed snap between Carr and center Rodney Hudson on the second play of the second half Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Nor would Carr divulge what the trainers did to get him back on the field so quickly, other than to say an X-ray was taken, and after his questions about the injury were answered to his satisfaction, he ran back to the field.

Carr's brother David, an analyst for NFL Network, said on air Monday afternoon that the pinkie was dislocated in two places.

"When he originally went to the sidelines in kind of a mass panic, which put my entire family into a panic. ... They popped it back in, and they said, 'OK, does it feel better?'" the elder Carr said. "And he was like, 'No, it still feels pretty bad.' Then they realized that the second knuckle was also dislocated. That's when they went into the locker room, got the X-ray, and as soon as they got the X-ray, his only question was, 'Can I damage it any more?'"

Because the X-ray was negative and the finger was not broken, it became a matter of pain management and how much Carr could squeeze the football. The black glove on his passing hand came about, the elder Carr said, to help his brother get a better grip.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said he thinks Carr is "going to be OK" going forward.

"To come back like that, put the glove on and lead us down and get a big win like that, that's good stuff," Del Rio said Monday in his weekly media conference. "You were wondering how it was going to go when he first got back out there. And he settled in and started firing away. ... I think he's going to be OK. He was able to come and finish, which was big, and I think he' going to be fine, so we'll see how the week goes."

Carr missed just one series and played the remainder of the game exclusively in the shotgun while wearing the glove. Carr was wearing a bandage on the digit as he dressed after the game but came to the postgame news conference without a wrap. David Carr said his brother had the pinkie taped to his ring finger Sunday night.

The Raiders' 24-7 halftime lead dissolved into a 32-24 deficit in the fourth quarter before Carr led the Raiders to two late scores for a 35-32 victory to improve first-place Oakland's record to 9-2 and clinch the franchise's first winning record since 2002. Carr completed 11 of 18 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown and interception after the injury. He was 15-of-20 for 176 yards and a touchdown before getting hurt.

Still, his degree of difficulty was up after his return, with his average pass going 9.1 yards past the line of scrimmage, as opposed to 5.1 yards before his injury, and his deep game actually improved. He completed five of seven passes that went at least 10 yards with a touchdown after the injury; he was just 2-for-4 on such throws before.

It was Carr's fifth game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime this season, the most by any Raiders quarterback in a single season in franchise history.

Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.