The Las Vegas Raiders have a quarterback decision to make ahead of their Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after the team benched Gardner Minshew in favor of Aidan O'Connell in the third quarter of its Week 5 loss.
Minshew finished the game 12-of-17 for 137 yards and one touchdown to two picks. One of those interceptions came on the Broncos' five-yard line and was returned for a score. The other was the final straw that landed Minshew on the bench.
O'Connell wasn't able to have much success, either. He completed 10-of-20 passes for 94 yards and one interception. The Purdue product did, however, lead the Raiders on a touchdown drive, albeit in garbage time.
When asked about the situation under center going into Week 6, head coach Antonio Pierce didn't have an answer yet for who would start.
“Yeah, just keep evaluating the film, evaluating everything from scheme, players — everything,” Pierce said on Monday. “So, we’re still doing that upstairs, currently.”
Pierce also commented on Minshew's pick-six being a deflating moment for the team. Las Vegas went from having an opportunity to take a 17-3 lead to the game being tied, and things just kept going downhill from there.
“I think everybody understood and saw that,” Pierce said. “But, you know, he went back out there and I thought there were some opportunities for us to make plays. At that point, we just didn’t. At that [point], offensively, we kind of hit the mud.”
Pierce also touched on O'Connell, who started 10 games for the Raiders during his rookie campaign.
“That back foot hits the ground, the ball comes out,” he said. “Aidan understands, is a cerebral player, knows where the ball needs to go. So, I’ve seen enough of Aiden and a lot this year — I know what to expect when Aidan gets in the game.”
At this point, the Raiders should just make the switch to O'Connell and see what happens. After all, Las Vegas is going nowhere fast as is and there is nothing to lose by making a change to see if O'Connell can provide a spark.
