The Las Vegas Raiders held their latest padded practice of training camp on Wednesday, and the last practice in Costa Mesa, California. And, with another Raiders practice in the books, we bring you our daily update on the quarterback competition between Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew.
Wednesday's practice was a copy and paste of previous days for Raiders signal-callers. O'Connell and Minshew both tossed interceptions and struggled to run an efficient offense against Las Vegas' defense.
Before we get to the bad, let's talk about the positives that occurred during practice on Wednesday. Both signal-callers started their days with touchdown passes during red zone drills, as O'Connell found Tre Tucker for a touchdown, while Minshew connected with DJ Turner for a score.
Two touchdowns in red zone drills today.
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) August 7, 2024
Aidan O’Connell hits a dart over the middle to Tre Tucker. Gardner Minshew rolls out of the pocket and hits DJ Turner by the right pylon.#Raiders
After the two early touchdowns, it all went downhill for Las Vegas' quarterbacks. O'Connell tossed an interception to Tre'von Moehrig in double coverage, then plays later, Minshew missed an open receiver high, leading to a pick by Isaiah Pola-Mao.
Tre'von Moehrig (off a pass by O'Connell) and Pola-Mao (off a pass by Minshew) with interceptions today at @Raiders camp. O'Connell threw into double coverage and Minshew overthrew an open receiver.
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) August 7, 2024
Per Vic Tafur of The Athletic, O'Connell nearly threw another interception before the one that ended up in Moehrig's hands.
Deablo quietly had a good camp. Leaner this year. Just missed a diving interception of O’Connell.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 7, 2024
Moehrig picks him off couple plays later.
#Raiders 1st team 11-on-11 Wednesday:
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) August 7, 2024
(A lot more work for the 2s and 3s) pic.twitter.com/2iwPWGqUNY
Head coach Antonio Pierce spoke to the media Wednesday morning and stated that the quarterback competition is still a tie and that the first preseason game will be "very telling."
Pierce said that the QB battle between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew is still a tie.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 7, 2024
“Status quo,” Pierce said. “I was never going to base everything off of practice.”
Each QB will play a quarter at Minnesota on Saturday. “This game will be very telling,” Pierce said.
RAIDERS WRAP: The Costa Mesa portion of #Raiders Camp is over and we are left with the same QB questions from before it started.
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) August 7, 2024
Neither Aidan O'Connell or Gardner Minshew has created separation in this battle yet. Antonio Pierce indicates there's still a long way to go in a… pic.twitter.com/eua1Q9fEQ9
Though preseason play is more meaningful than practice play when it comes to who wins a position battle, it is still extremely disappointing that neither signal-caller has stood out through nearly three weeks of practice in Costa Mesa.
