Pierce to name Raiders’ No. 1 QB after next game

Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff WriterAug 11, 2024, 04:16 PM ET
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HENDERSON, Nev. — With Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew locked in a quarterback competition, Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said the goal is to announce a starter following the team’s next exhibition game, at home Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys.

“We’ve got to get ready to play football, and I think we’ve got enough film,” Pierce said Sunday, a day after the team’s 24-23 loss at the Minnesota Vikings.

“We’ll have two games here [by then] to evaluate both quarterbacks to see how they’ll play.”

O’Connell started the preseason opener at Minnesota and played one quarter, completing 7 of 9 passes for 76 yards in leading the Raiders on an 83-yard, 15-play drive that took 7:42 off the clock and resulted in a field goal.

He led the Raiders from their own 4-yard line to the Vikings’ 3-yard line before taking a 10-yard sack on third-and-goal, after left tackle Andrus Peat was beaten by Dallas Turner.

“It was great work for us,” said O’Connell, a fourth-round draft pick in 2023 who started 10 games for the Raiders last season and went 5-5 as a rookie starter.

“We obviously practiced [being] backed up, but to get into a game environment on the road, and it got pretty loud, had to use silent cadence a good amount, so yeah, great work for us.”

Minshew, meanwhile, played four series in the second quarter and threw for 117 yards, completing 6 of 12 attempts, with a 20-yard TD pass to DJ Turner. He also had a 7-yard run for a first down.

“We’re competing for the role to help the Raiders,” said Minshew, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract with $15 million guaranteed in March.

“I’ve never been on a team where one quarterback plays the whole time. There’s going to be an opportunity, and we both have to hang in there and just lead the offense when we’re in.”

The Raiders led 20-7 at the half, and neither O’Connell nor Minshew played after halftime. They are expected to play one quarter each against the Cowboys.

“I thought both guys were efficient,” Pierce said. “There was some opportunities that Minshew made down the field that was really good … when it’s a clean pocket, man, you can see what this offense could be with both guys.

“But I thought they really did a good job of the operations. We did have one delay of game [penalty] with Gardner that we need to clean up, but I thought Aidan did a really good job from being backed up down in the red zone. And Gardner, two-minute drill. Everything we wanted to get out of preseason [Game 1], we got.”

The Raiders will also be getting back one of their primary offensive weapons this week in receiver Davante Adams.

The three-time first-team All-Pro left the team in training camp in Costa Mesa after six practices — he missed the final five practices and the game at Minnesota — to return to Las Vegas for the birth of his son.

“Davante will be here today,” Pierce said. “Spoke to him after the game. He’s excited. He watched it. He misses his teammates. Glad baby boy is here, healthy.”

Pierce also said he hoped to have left tackle Kolton Miller and rookie left guard Jackson Powers-Johnson off the PUP list after the Raiders’ game vs. the Cowboys.