Raiders to start Aidan O'Connell at QB against Chiefs - ESPN

HENDERSON, Nev. — Aidan O'Connell, recovered from a broken thumb on his right (passing) hand, will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders at the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday, coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday.

«Aidan's looking good,» Pierce said. «We'll throw the ball a little bit today in practice, but he's done good over the last two days with some walk-throughs and, obviously, [practicing] indoors, but we'll see how it looks today.

»But we feel good about Aidan. He's been dialed in, obviously, throughout this time that he's been on IR. He's done all the meetings. He's been very encouraging on the sideline. He's got that laser-eye focus right now. Great opportunity for him."

O'Connell, on injured reserve since Oct. 22, had his practice window opened Monday.

«It's not 100%, but it's pretty close,» O'Connell said Tuesday. «It's felt pretty good the last few days throwing. I got to throw starting a little bit in the last couple of weeks and that's been good. It's been kind of horrible not being able to do that.

»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… it's not just throwing the ball 5 yards to a guy, it's throwing routes deeper and things like that."

O'Connell lost a training camp battle to free agent signee Gardner Minshew but took over for an ineffective Minshew in Week 6. It was in O'Connell's second start, at the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 22, when he suffered the broken thumb on a follow-through of a pass attempt.

«It was a bone break, so there's not a lot you can do except sit there and wait, which isn't ideal,» O'Connell said. «But there's some modalities you can do in the training room and then just trying to get