Raiders QB competition is tight entering preseason game at Minnesota

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce hopes to finally take a major step forward Saturday in picking the starting quarterback when Las Vegas opens its preseason at Minnesota.

Pierce said a decision will be made later this week whether incumbent Aidan O’Connell or free agent signee Gardner Minshew would start, but each player will receive a quarter’s worth of action.

“Who goes out first and who goes out second really doesn’t matter,” Pierce said.

The Raiders have split repetitions between both quarterbacks in training camp, including giving each roughly equal amount of snaps with the first-team offense.

Pierce has said the starters will play in the preseason games to better evaluate the quarterbacks, but three potential first-team offensive players likely won’t play against the Vikings.

Left tackle Kolton Miller and left guard Jackson Powers-Johnson have been on the physically unable to perform list, though both are expected back before the season begins. Andrus Peat and Cody Whitehair have been working at those positions, and the initial Raiders depth chart listed Whitehead ahead of Powers-Johnson.

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Also, wide receiver Davante Adams left training camp last week in Costa Mesa, California, to return to Las Vegas for the birth of his third child.

Pierce gave O’Connell the first snaps to open the offseason training program, citing the QB’s performance last season. O’Connell became the starter at midseason and went 5-4 down the stretch. He won three of his final four games, throwing eight touchdown passes with no interceptions over that span.

Working under new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and facing in practices what could be a top-10 defense this season, O’Connell has failed to separate himself in the quarterback competition.

“I think being more consistent for myself,” O’Connell said of what he needed to do going forward. “I’m just going out there trying to execute the best I can every time with every play. There are a lot of factors that go on out there — who you’re playing with, what the call is, the coverage and those things. You’ve got to take it into account, but tune it out and execute the best play possible.”

O’Connell is a more traditional drop-back quarterback, and Minshew provides a dual threat with his ability to run.

He also has shown an ability to deliver from the pocket in his five-year NFL career. Minshew started 13 games and played in all 17 last season in Indianapolis, completing 62.2% of his throws for 3,305 yards in nearly leading the Colts to the playoffs.

But Indianapolis decided to move on from Minshew with 2023 No. 4 draft pick Anthony Richardson returning from an injury to his throwing shoulder. The Raiders signed Minshew to a two-year, $25 million deal.

Now he’s again trying to earn a starting job.

“Since we’ve put the pads on, I think we’ve had some really good work against the defense,” Minshew said. “They do a good job giving us all kinds of different looks and mixing it up. They’ve got playmakers over there. I think it’s been awesome. We’ve really grown as an offense and are starting to figure out who we are.”

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