Raiders will announce starting QB after 2nd preseason game - ESPN

HENDERSON, Nev. — With Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew locked in a quarterback competition, Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said the goal is to announce a starter following the team's next exhibition game, at home Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys.

«We've got to get ready to play football, and I think we've got enough film,» Pierce said Sunday, a day after the team's 24-23 loss at the Minnesota Vikings.

«We'll have two games here [by then] to evaluate both quarterbacks to see how they'll play.»

O'Connell started the preseason opener at Minnesota and played one quarter, completing 7 of 9 passes for 76 yards in leading the Raiders on an 83-yard, 15-play drive that took 7:42 off the clock and resulted in a field goal.

He led the Raiders from their own 4-yard line to the Vikings' 3-yard line before taking a 10-yard sack on third-and-goal, after left tackle Andrus Peat was beaten by Dallas Turner.

«It was great work for us,» said O'Connell, a fourth-round draft pick in 2023 who started 10 games for the Raiders last season and went 5-5 as a rookie starter.

«We obviously practiced [being] backed up, but to get into a game environment on the road, and it got pretty loud, had to use silent cadence a good amount, so yeah, great work for us.»

Minshew, meanwhile, played four series in the second quarter and threw for 117 yards, completing 6 of 12 attempts, with a 20-yard TD pass to DJ Turner. He also had a 7-yard run for a first down.

«We're competing for the role to help the Raiders,» said Minshew, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract with $15 million guaranteed in March.

«I've never been on a team where one quarterback plays the whole time. There's going to be an opportunity, and we both have to hang in there