As the Las Vegas Raiders prepared for their latest training camp practice on Monday, head coach Antonio Pierce took to the podium before the session and touched on the team's quarterback situation.
Of course, the Raiders are watching signal-callers Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell battle it out for the starting job. Things had remained about dead-even throughout the offseason until last Saturday's practice, when Minshew seemed to pull ahead at least slightly after clearly outperforming O'Connell.
But there is still evaluating left to be done, especially with three preseason games yet to be played. Pierce said both quarterbacks will get a quarter when the Raiders begin their exhibition slate on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings, although he did not say who would see the field first.
Pierce didn't reveal who'll take the first snaps, but he said expects both Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell to play "a legit quarter" in the #Raiders' preseason opener against the Vikings on Saturday.
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) August 5, 2024
Pierce touched on each quarterback individually, according to Levi Damien of Raiders Wire.
“I don’t think we can sit back and say somebody’s won yet,” Pierce said. “I think they both have had good moments. I go back and I think Gardner’s had several days now where he’s made some plays, but there’s also some turnovers we don’t want to have happen as well.”
“When I think of Aidan, I see a guy that’s throwing the ball accurate. I see some drops by our wide receivers,” Pierce added. “And I don’t think it’s just on the quarterback, I think overall our offensive play has to pick up.”
Another issue the Raiders signal-callers have in practice is the fact that they're going up against a defense that has a chance to be elite in 2024.
But the time to prove themselves is getting shorter, which means the Raiders are nearing decision time.
“They’re going against a very good defense,” Pierce said. “And I think they’re feeling that and I think it’s good for our team, the competition part, but obviously somebody, again, has to step up. We’re getting closer and closer.”
After the latest training camp practice on Monday, we will be just days away from the team beginning its preseason slate on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings.
