Matt Schaub Will Not Play Against Patriots

10:38pm: Schaub left the team to be with his wife, who had an emergency C-section, says Ed Werder of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

2:57pm: Raiders’ backup quarterback Matt Schaub will not play this weekend against the Patriots as a healthy scratch, reports Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Tafur adds that Schaub made the trip to Boston, but had to take himself away from the team due to an emergency (via Twitter).

The Raiders thought they were getting a starting quarterback when they traded for Schaub this offseason. Rookie second-round pick Derek Carr outperformed his veteran counterpart in the preseason, and surprisingly won the starting job going into week one.

Schaub struggled with performance, but was also dealing with a sore elbow that kept him from playing to his accustomed level. The 11 year veteran had his worst season as a starter for the Texans in 2013, including a streak of four consecutive games in which he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, which is an NFL record.

If he continues going forward as neither the starting quarterback nor the backup, there are serious questions to his future with the team and in the league. Earlier this season he was adamant that he was not considering retirement, as he becomes further removed from the team that possibility seems all the more likely.

With $8MM guaranteed on his contract during this year and next, Schaub will almost definitely wait until he is cut from the team before considering retirement to ensure he gets his last NFL payday. He will be hardpressed to find another team willing to employ his services if he fails to turn it around in Oakland.

Former Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin is slated to back up Carr in Schaub’s absence.

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