Jason Campbell Injury: Does Injury Mean Raiders Go After David Garrard?

Jason Campbell left Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns early and he is reportedly done for the season with a broken collarbone.

This has not been confirmed, but what a blow it would be to a Raiders team that just moved to 4-2, just a half of a game behind the San Diego Chargers for first in the AFC West.

If Campbell is lost for the season, where do the Raiders go from here?

Kyle Boller filled in for Campbell, but he struggled, completing eight of 14 passes for just 100 yards. He managed the game and "led" Oakland to a victory, so you can't really complain about the performance, but the Raiders have to be serious.

Is Boller really a permanent replacement? Or was he just a warm body to fill the depth chart behind Campbell?

The answer is probably much closer to the latter, and if the Raiders really want to compete for a playoff spot, Boller won't get it done.

The Raiders' defense has struggled at times, but they have good enough players back there, especially on the D-line. On the offensive end, Darren McFadden and the run game is one of the best in the league. 

All they need is a quarterback, and in Campbell they had one.

Not anymore.

After Boller on the depth chart is rookie Terrelle Pryor. The former Buckeye's five-game suspension ended this week, but he wasn't dressed for the game. 

Many fans will want Pryor to start right away, but there has to be questions about whether he's ready. Pryor completed around 60 percent of his passes in college, but also threw his fair share of interceptions. It's hard to believe he'll be ready to lead an NFL team after just two weeks of practice. 

The best thing for Pryor to do is sit and learn from the sidelines. He has the athleticism and skills to be a good quarterback some day, but he's far from ready right now.

That leaves one option for the Raiders. 

Fix the quarterback situation from the outside. And if they want a playoff-caliber QB, the options become even more narrow.

David Garrard is still a free agent. The former Jaguar has a career QB rating of 85.8 and would be able to lead this offense right away. But is he willing to be a one-year fix?

Garrard has stated in the past that he wants a solid relationship with a team and would like job security.

He would certainly have job security should Campbell be gone for the season, but after this season it would be up in the air.

It's hard to imagine Garrard would fall in love with this situation, but I'm sure unemployment is starting to get to him.

The other option would be Carson Palmer, who is still technically a Cincinnati Bengal, but it's clear that it's a be-traded-or-sit situation in Cincy.

The trade deadline is approaching fast and the Raiders would have to give up some draft picks to get Palmer, but the former Trojan is still just 31-years-old. He could certainly run this team.

A season-ending injury to Jason Campbell certainly hurts, but there are solutions for the Oakland Raiders.

They just aren't internal.