HENDERSON, Nev. — Aidan O’Connell will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, replacing Gardner Minshew, coach Antonio Pierce announced Wednesday.
Minshew won a tight training camp battle over O’Connell but was twice benched late in his five starts for the Raiders, in losses to the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. The Raiders are 2-3 heading into Sunday’s game.
“I mean, it was a quarterback battle early on,” Pierce said, “and at this point, I think it’s best to go with Aidan going forward.”
Asked if the switch was permanent for the rest of the season, or if Minshew might regain the gig, Pierce, who said the decision was his, left the door open.
“I don’t plan on making switches at any time,” he said. “When it’s time to make a switch, we’ll make a switch.”
Minshew, who won the job for his purported ability to get a team off to a quick start, was completing a career-high 70.7% of his passes, for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns in five games. But he also threw five interceptions, including a momentum-killing 100-yard pick-six at Denver on Sunday and his 41.1 QBR is a career low.
O’Connell, meanwhile, has completed 59.4% of his throws in spot duty this season, for 176 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Last season, Pierce elevated the then-rookie O’Connell to the starting role over Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer upon his own elevation from linebackers coach to interim coach on Nov. 1.
O’Connell went 5-5 as a starter and threw for eight touchdowns without a pick in the Raiders’ final four games. On the season, he passed for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 appearances.
Pierce said O’Connell has been “way more vocal” this season, even while serving as Minshew’s backup.
“Out of that shell, not looking like a rookie no more,” Pierce said. “Not acting like a rookie no more. He has a certain presence about himself … I love how he walks around the building.
“Really, what I respect the most, is when we named Gardner the starter, he said, ‘All right, I’m going to be the best scout team quarterback possible.’ And he was lighting our ass up. And every day he gives us the best look and he walks around with a smile on his face … the Baltimore game, he and Jackson Powers[-Johnson] were rallying the troops and pumping them up and he was just a great teammate. So, all those things factor into the decisions.”