Request for tinted visor by Terrelle Pryor led to Matt Flynn starting

Late Saturday night the Chronicle reported that Terrelle Pryor would be starting for the Raiders against Washington after passing his final concussion test. As we saw on Sunday, that was not the case.

So what happened in between that report and Matt Flynn getting the start and literally throwing away

his last chance to be a starter in this league?

Apparently it was Pryor’s own undoing. He wanted a tinted visor equipped on his helmet for the game—not because he wanted to look cool but because he wanted protection from the light. That was enough of a warning sign for the Raiders to pull the plug on putting Pryor on the field for the game.

From Dennis Allen on Monday, via Jerry McDonald:

“Sensitivity to light is obviously a symptom and when you have that symptom we can’t put him at risk,” Allen said Monday at his weekly press briefing. [...]
“This was not a play decision. This was not a coach’s decision. This was a medical decision,” Allen said. “There were still some symptoms there, but we weren’t going to put him in that situation. That’s the right thing to do and that’s the decision we made.”

So that’s why you had Flynn stinking the joint up with a putrid seven sacks to go along with one game-changing pick-six and Pryor on the sideline in street clothes and cool sunglasses.

Pryor’s status for Sunday’s game against the Chargers is still up in the air until he’s symptom free.

Oh, and in case you hadn’t heard, that kickoff has officially been pushed back to 8:30 p.m. So, maybe leave the children at home for that one.

[BANG]