Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell made his preseason debut in Sunday’s matchup with the 49ers and acquitted himself well.
O’Connell was on the field for 80 percent of Las Vegas’ offensive snaps, playing through the third quarter. He finished 15-of-18 passing for 141 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions — good for a 117.8 passer rating. And the Raiders had a couple of drops.
After the game, head coach Josh McDaniels said veteran quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer got the work needed in two joint practices with San Francisco. And that led to O’Connell’s extended reps.
“There was a lot of firsts today for him — his first play call first, feeling pressure in the pocket, first two-minute drive, first halftime, all those things,” McDaniels said. “So, I thought he generally handled himself well for the first opportunity.
“He’s gonna learn a lot from some of the things that we might have been able to do a little bit better that would have helped us maybe sustain a few drives, but that’s why he was in there. So, he’s just a sponge, he soaks it all in, and he’ll take every opportunity to improve.”
O’Connell said he felt good about the outing.
“Definitely some things to work on still, but it was fun to be out there, live action and bullets are really flying,” O’Connell said. “It’s a little different when you play quarterback, even if you practice against another team that can’t tackle you in practice and they can now.
“[Y]ou just kind of hope to go out there and do your best and see what happens. I’m not worried about the stats. There’s more things than just the stats, and especially responsibility in the run game and stuff like that that I know I need to improve on. So, I know I have a lot of work to go still.”
