AP

As colorful images go, the one Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor used to describe his performance against the Cowboys on Monday night isn’t very colorful. But it’s definitely an image.

“I just think I played like dog crap,” Pryor said, via Paul Gutierrez of CSNBayArea.com.

“I’m angry at myself,” Pryor said of his eight for 15 performance, which generated 50 yards and an interception. “I don’t think I played well. I thought Matt [Leinart] played great. I thought Carson [Palmer] played great. I thought everyone else on the team played great. . . .

“So I’m mad about that, about how I played today. So I’m angry and I’m going to come back stronger next week.”

The question is whether the flesh will be able, despite the will of the spirit. One of the things we’ve learned from the scouts we know is that every player has a ceiling over his abilities. Pryor’s seemed on Monday night to be somewhere between the college level and the NFL.

He was slow out of the huddle, and he seemed indecisive. Perhaps most troubling is the fact that when he relied on his God-given skills, he couldn’t easily elude second- and third-stringers.

Maybe he’s rusty. After all, he hadn’t played since January 2011. Or maybe he was feeling overwhelmed by the moment, with nerves getting in the way of his natural talent.

Regardless, there’s a chance that further reps and development will amount merely to the polishing of a self-described turd.