After falling to the Panthers in Week 3, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce appeared to be contemplating a quarterback change from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O’Connell.
But Pierce elected to stick with Minshew for Week 4 and Las Vegas defeated Cleveland 20-16, largely behind a strong and creative ground game.
Minshew finished the contest 14-of-24 for 130 yards.
On Monday, Pierce was asked what he’s been seeing from Minshew through the first four games of the season.
“Pretty much what I thought we’d see,” Pierce said in his press conference. “I think there’s some plays I know we want to take back, but I also see some moxie there. I see confidence. It’s more about on the sideline and in the building, just keeping guys calm. He does have a good presence about himself.
“We’re kind of where we’re at right now, 2-2, and is that good or is it bad? I don’t know, right? I don’t know where people had us at, but I think for us, we know there were opportunities there that we wish we could have and make them. There were some throws last night — we make them and maybe that game gets wide open early on. But we don’t, and we got to do a better job of doing it. But I think there’s still improvement there for Gardner, our offense, and the team.”
Through Week 4, Minshew has completed 70.7 percent of his throws for 877 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions — good for a passer rating of 88.7.