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The Las Vegas Raiders expressed a desire to pick a starting quarterback after their second preseason game. If they stick to that, they might be making a decision without a definitive answer.
Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell are battling for the spot and neither has made the choice obvious based on their preseason play. O’Connell outplayed Minshew on Saturday night, but just when it seemed he might be the winning the job he threw a bad pick-6 early in the fourth quarter. That might set the Raiders’ coaches back to square one. We’ll see.
O’Connell got the start in last week’s preseason opener, and Minshew got the start on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys. It was a chance for Minshew to shine with the Cowboys not playing any starters on defense. Minshew failed to impress.
Minshew had an uneven performance. He was 10 of 21 for 95 yards in a little more than a quarter of work. His night started ominously. Minshew’s first drive almost ended with a fourth-down interception. He never seemed to see the underneath defender, though the pass was dropped.
The second series started better, with Minshew airing it out to Tre Tucker for a 48-yard gain. But the drive stalled there, in part because Minshew hesitated on third down and threw wildly and incomplete.
On the next possession Minshew had a solid throw on third down to tight end Michael Mayer and hit Tucker later in the drive on another third down. Then on third-and-11 he threw one up for grabs to a well-defended receiver and was lucky it was knocked incomplete.
Minshew played into the second quarter, getting a fourth possession. There was a shot at a big play but a miscommunication with Tucker, when the receiver turned in but the pass went to his outside shoulder, led to an incompletion. Then Minshew’s pass on third down was broken up and the Raiders punted. The good news for Minshew was the Cowboys fumbled the punt and the Raiders got it right back. That drive didn’t go anywhere either. A third-and-6 screen pass…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gardner-minshew-ii-aidan-oconnell-each-have-ups-and-downs-in-raiders-qb-competition-043402937.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-18 04:34:02
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