Aidan O’Connell was pleased with where the Las Vegas Raiders were following their training camp session in California. He has to be pleased with how his top two quarterbacks performed in the Raiders’ first preseason game on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Las Vegas Raiders QB battle had a slow start
Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew struggled this spring and at the beginning of camp. However, they played in the Raiders’ 24-23 loss to the Vikings. (The loss doesn’t matter, as the Vikings’ comeback occurred long after the starters had come out of the game.)
O’Connell started the game and went 7/9 passing for 76 yards. Minshew relieved him and went 6/12 passing for 117 yards and a touchdown. It’s impossible to tell who was winning the quarterback battle after the game, and Pierce had a message for both players.
Antonio Pierce on Saturday’s game
Per NFL Media, Pierce said Minshew and O’Connell did good things, but they have a lot to learn before the Raiders play the Dallas Cowboys next week:
“Yeah, it was good. Good reps there for Aidan. Backed up, got us drove all the way down the length of the field. It was close there, was thinking about going for the fourth down, negative play, we kicked a field goal,” head coach Antonio Pierce said post-game, via team transcripts.
“And then Gardner came in, three good drives. Really for both quarterbacks, all four possessions led to points on the board for the Raiders. That was positive. There’s a lot of things obviously we can learn from it.”
Minshew is expected to get the start against the Cowboys. He had better stats than O’Connell, but he also played lesser competition when he went against the Vikings’ backups.
Related: The differences between Minshew and O’Connell
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