Could the Raiders be the next team to make a quarterback switch?
Head coach Antonio Pierce evaded a question on that subject, not ruling it out during his Monday press conference following Sunday’s 36-22 loss to the Panthers.
Pierce inserted second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell into the Week 3 contest late after the game had effectively been decided. Pierce noted he was looking for an offensive spark.
While starter Gardner Minshew went 18-of-28 for 214 yards with one touchdown and one interception, O’Connell was 9-of-12 for 82 yards with a TD.
“I mean, there’s some plays that I know — like we always say — that you want to make and take advantage of. But I thought we did do some good things,” Pierce said when asked about Minshew. “The problem is, when you don’t win on early downs, these longer third downs — that’s not in the best interest of our offense and Gardner. So we’ve got to do a better job on early downs and make it easier for him on third down.”
As for O’Connell’s performance, Pierce said, “Well I just think, you look at how the game went, we’re down by two scores or so, let Aidan come in, see what he can do with the offense, move it. We were just trying to look for a spark.”
Does that mean anything for O’Connell, Minshew, and the offense going forward?
“I think we’ve got to get with the players and evaluate everything from yesterday first,” Pierce said.
That non-answer is notable in and of itself. In three weeks, Minshew has completed 74 percent of his passes for 747 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also lost a fumble.
But the Raiders have not had any semblance of a run game, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry on 55 attempts. Runs have resulted in just five first downs.
O’Connell went 5-5 as a starting quarterback for Las Vegas last year, completing 62.1 percent of his throws for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 total appearances.
The Raiders will host the Browns in Week 4.
