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Minshew Mania is officially hitting Las Vegas.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce named Gardner Minshew the team’s starting quarterback in his Sunday video conference.
“A lot of things went into it. It wasn’t based on [the preseason game] last night — there’s a lot of factors,” Pierce said, mentioning he, G.M. Tom Telesco, and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy discussed the decision this morning. “So, we feel like Garnder gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start and that’s who we’re going with. We support him. Our team’s opportunity it, our staff’s behind it, the organization’s behind it.”
Minshew, 28, signed a two-year deal with the Raiders in March after spending last season with the Colts. He was competing with second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who started 10 games for Las Vegas last year as a rookie.
Minshew’s experience was one of the deciding factors, Pierce said.
“The operation, the processing — just everything we saw in practice. Some of it showed up in the games. A lot of stuff we can get better at. I don’t think anything here is a finished product. But based off of where we want to go in the first quarter of the season, we feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity.
“[H]is personality is infectious. His energy is infectious. His leadership is infectious. Things [for] improvement — footwork, in the pocket, staying on script. There is some magic about him when he does break the pocket and does his thing. But there’s a lot of times where if the first or second read is there, we’ve got to let it rip. So, he understands that. And more importantly, taking care of the football.”
Minshew started Saturday night’s preseason matchup with the Cowboys, going 10-of-21 for 95 yards. O’Connell came in second, completing 14-of-20 passes for 96 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Pierce complimented both signal-callers for the way they handled the competition — noting that he still feels O’Connell has a future as a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/raiders-name-gardner-minshew-starting-183210923.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-18 18:32:10
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