Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell’s start vs Rams ends with thumb injury in 1st quarter

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Aidan O’Connell was looking forward to securing his hold on the starting quarterback job for the Las Vegas Raiders, only to sustain a thumb injury in the first quarter of a 20-15 loss at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

O’Connell was hurt when his right hand smacked the hand of Rams safety Kam Curl while throwing a long pass. Adding insult to injury, O’Connell was penalized for intentional grounding on the play.

“It was super unfortunate,” he said. “I was really looking forward to today and this opportunity, and so for it to be cut short like that was definitely hard.”

O’Connell stayed in for the last offensive snap of the drive, completing a short pass to wide receiver DJ Turner on third-and-21, but the second-year QB from Purdue said his thumb was already numb.

“I tried to give that third down play a shot, and then I threw it and it didn’t feel great, so I tried to tough it out but, yeah, it was not feeling great,” said O’Connell, who was 6 of 10 for 52 yards on the Raiders’ first two series.

After the game, O’Connell had his thumb in a splint, which was covered with black tape. The 26-year-old said the extent of the injury would not be known until they return to Las Vegas for further examination, “but (was) hoping for some good news,” he added, having dealt with a similar injury in middle school.

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Gardner Minshew replaced O’Connell for Las Vegas’ third series. Minshew began the season as the starting quarterback, but was replaced by O’Connell this month because of issues with turnovers. Those struggles continued for Minshew, the well-traveled sixth-year NFL veteran.

Minshew threw three interceptions and lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown late in the first half. His first two picks led to a pair of Rams’ touchdown runs, and the last came with 1:18 remaining as Minshew tried to lead a go-ahead drive.

“No, that’s on me, man,” Minshew said. “That’s unacceptable to have that many turnovers. I got to be smarter with the ball. To have a game where we lose by five points and have four turnovers, like that’s critical, and it’s unfair to the rest of the team.”

The Raiders (2-5) have committed a league-worst 16 turnovers, with Minshew responsible for eight interceptions and two lost fumbles in six games. Las Vegas has a minus-13 takeaway differential after posting a minus-3 margin against the Rams.

Minshew said it was the worst run of ball security in his career.

“It’s super frustrating,” he said. “I’ve never turned the ball over like this in my life. It’s just very frustrating. So just got to keep looking at it, keep studying and keep training good habits, and we’re going to find a way out of this.”

The Raiders almost were able to overcome those errors and tie it late in the fourth quarter, but right tackle DJ Glaze committed a false start on fourth down from the Rams 4. Head coach Antonio Pierce sent out Daniel Carlson to kick his fifth field goal after the penalty.

“Like, those are some drive killers,” said Minshew, who was 15 of 34 for 154 yards.

O’Connell acknowledged the struggling offense, which was playing for the first time since wide receiver Davante Adams was traded to the New York Jets on Tuesday and did not have Jakobi Meyers available because of an ankle injury, is not in position to overcome those constant gaffes.

“Feels a little bit like a snowball effect right now, where it’s happened before, and we’re trying to get out of that mindset,” O’Connell said. “But, yeah, it’s just kind of been unforced error, unfortunate error after error, and really nothing you can do but going back to the drawing board and try to regroup and put our best foot forward next week.”

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