ALAMEDA, Calif. – Derek Carr’s initial plan was to ramp up his rehab from his broken right fibula in time to play in the Super Bowl, had the Oakland Raiders advanced that far in the NFL’s postseason tournament.

But when the Raiders fell at the Houston Texans in the opening weekend of the playoffs, Carr’s comeback took a more timely approach, though Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Thursday that his quarterback was on track for next season.

“He’s doing well,” Del Rio told ESPN’s Matt Barrie. “Yeah, Derek is healing, and we’re happy about that. He’s obviously a very vital piece of what we do and … we’re happy about the way things are coming along.”

Del Rio was asked how Carr’s ascent played a part in the Raiders’ revival, from an 0-10 start in 2014 to starting out 12-3 in 2016.

“Well, it’s been tremendous for us,” Del Rio said. “I think finding that trigger man is so huge for you and one of the things that we’ve done is we’ve played to the talent that he does have. So some of the things that he did in college, we’ve integrated into the offense and how we approach it.”

Carr, who finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting, passed for 3,937 yards while completing 63.8 percent of his passes in 15 games. He also had 28 touchdown passes and six interceptions for a passer rating of 96.7 with seven come-from-behind drives in the fourth quarter or overtime.

In an interview with Sirius XM this week, Carr said he looked forward to coming back with his “hair on fire” in Oakland.

“We’re really close,” Carr said. “It feels good, obviously, I still have a little bit of the process to go, so I won’t put a number on it … I’ll never put a number on it, but I can assure you I’ll be back 100 percent, ready to go, and we’re almost there.”

Carr also acknowledged after the season he had suffered a fracture in his right (passing) finger on a mistimed snap in Week 12. It was called a dislocation at the time.

With both the finger and leg, broken in Week 16, healing, Carr said he wants to participate in the Raiders offseason program, which begins April 17. Rookie minicamp is scheduled for May 5-7 with OTAs on May 23-25, May 30-June 1 and June 5-June 8 and mandatory minicamp June 13-15.

“My goal is to make sure there’s no lingering effects of anything,” Carr said. “Now it’s just going to be up to what the team and myself, getting together, what we think is the best plan. There’s nothing holding me back physically. We’re just trying to be smart in the way we do it. You don’t want anything to push it back a couple weeks just because maybe we rushed a certain thing.

“We’ve taken this process as slow as possible ever since our team got knocked out of the playoffs. We’re going to continue to do that, but I fully expect to be out there with my teammates when everything starts up.”

The last time the New York Jets went to the scouting combine with this much uncertainty at quarterback was 2009, when there was a three-month period between Brett Favre’s departure and Mark Sanchez’s arrival.

Right now, the only two quarterbacks under contract are Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. Translation: They need a starter.

Speaking to reporters Thursday at the combine, coach Todd Bowles said both players will have an opportunity to compete for the No. 1 job.

“They’ll have a chance,” said Bowles, providing no explanation.

Frankly, that sounds like lip service from a notoriously tight-lipped coach. It’s hard to imagine Petty (four career starts) or Hackenberg (zero career snaps) as the opening-day starter, but Bowles wasn’t about to tip his hand with free agency only a week away.

Asked if he will sign a free agent, Bowles said, “We’re looking into it. We have our eye on a few people.”

Mike Glennon, a pending free agent, is among the players on the Jets’ radar. Tony Romo, Jay Cutler and Tyrod Taylor — all currently under contract — are expected to become available in the coming days. Out of that group, Taylor could pique the Jets’ interest, although some league insiders wonder if the Jets would be willing to dole out a lucrative contract for him. Brian Hoyer and even Geno Smith could be cheaper, fallback options.

Free agent Alshon Jeffery is looking to sign with a contender, the wide receiver told ESPN’s Josina Anderson on Thursday.

Jeffery, 27, is poised to test the free-agent market after the Chicago Bears declined to apply the franchise tag. The Bears would have been on the hook for approximately $17.5 million guaranteed in 2017 had they exercised the tag for a second straight year.

“I don’t have any hard feelings towards the Bears — it’s all love,” Jeffery said. “Whatever the next chapter is, I’m ready for it. I’m looking at the teams that obviously need a wide receiver, but also put me in the best situation to win a championship right now. I also want to see what other free agents may be attracted to the same teams I’ll be looking at. That can help that goal.”

General manager Ryan Pace said the Bears are interested in re-signing Jeffery when the new league year begins, but two sides did not discuss any parameters of a long-term agreement following the 2016 season. Chicago is expected to meet with Jeffery’s agent at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

The Bears do have exclusive negotiating rights with Jeffery until March 7, but a deal will not get done before free agency begins.

“Well, I’d say he knows us better than anybody else he could potentially go to,” Bears coach John Fox said at the combine. “I think it’s a positive feeling. With typically these things, it comes down to the market value. It’s like walking into a store right now at this time of year and there are no price tags. We kind of develop that moving forward. My experience has been that’s a very fluid process.”

Jeffery was the NFL’s second-highest paid receiver last year at $14.599 million, but Jeffery technically pocketed less because he served a four-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.

There is no telling what Jeffery’s free agent contract is going to look like. Players typically are overpaid in free agency, and Jeffery’s situation figures to be no different, especially with the NFL’s salary cap expanding to $167 million. Also, top-flight receivers in their prime rarely make it to free agency, which is another reason why the interest level in Jeffery could be high.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has spent much of the offseason in Atlanta working on the strength and flexibility of his throwing shoulder, which was a factor in the worst season of his career in 2016.

The 2015 NFL MVP got an MRI on his right shoulder in mid-December that showed no structural damage, but the shoulder was sore enough that Newton didn’t throw early in the week during practice prior to the final three games.

Since the end of the season, Newton has continued to work on improving the shoulder with strength and conditioning experts in his hometown.

“I’d like to see him more flexible more than anything else, especially through the shoulders,” Carolina coach Ron Rivera told reporters at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Thursday.

“That seemed to be where he had a lot of his problems, is getting that shoulder strength back up, getting that shoulder flexibility back, more so than anything else.”

Newton completed only 47.6 percent of his passes over the final seven games, including 37.04 against San Diego, which was the second-worst percentage of his career.

He finished the season with a career-low 52.9 completion percentage, throwing only 19 touchdowns just a year after a career-best 35.