The Las Vegas Raiders are down a quarterback after Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone. With the team having a short week ahead of their Friday matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, there was some concern about who might start at quarterback.
Head coach Antonio Pierce announced on Wednesday that Aidan O’Connell is going to get the start. The second-year quarterback just got taken off Injured Reserve this week after suffering a broken thumb earlier this season.
Considering O’Connell hasn’t been practicing, the Raiders could’ve started Desmond Ridder but decided against it. O’Connell is the last quarterback to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium so it’s easy to see why Las Vegas prefers to play him.
It’s difficult to know how good O’Connell will look. He has to be rusty after breaking the thumb on his throwing hand. Minshew would likely be starting this game had he not gotten hurt and the Raiders would’ve been able to give O’Connell some time to ramp up. Not much is going right for Las Vegas this season and things continue to be difficult. Rivalry games on short weeks are always interesting so perhaps O’Connell will be able to keep the game close.
Aidan O’Connell’s Thumb Not 100%
The Raiders are giving O’Connell a tough task. He’s been out for a month and his first start back is on a short week against the back-t0-back Super Bowl champions.
Plus, the quarterback revealed that his thumb isn’t fully healed quite yet.
“It’s not 100%, but it’s pretty close,” O’Connell said during his Tuesday media availability. “It’s felt pretty good the last few days throwing … to be able to go out there and grip the football and throw a little bit has been awesome. So, yeah, we’re progressing how we want to.”
A thumb is incredibly important when throwing a football so this will be something to watch on Friday. The Raiders could decide to go with a run-heavy approach, especially if O’Connell struggles to control the football.
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