Aidan O’Connell will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6 in place of previous starter Gardner Minshew.
Head coach Antonio Pierce announced the decision on Wednesday. The Raiders are making the change after a 2-3 start and a Week 5 loss to the AFC West rival Denver Broncos.
Pierce didn’t off much detail when asked why he made the decision.
“There was a quarterback battle early on,” Pierce said . … “At this point I think it’s best to go with Aidan going forward. …
“I don’t plan on making switches at any time. When it’s time to make a switch, you make a switch.”
O’Connell started 10 games for the Raiders as a rookie last season while Pierce served as the team’s interim head coach. He completed 62.1% of his passes for 201.6 yards per game with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Raiders went 5-5 in games that O’Connell started.
The Raiders signed Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract in the offseason after he previously served as the backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Minshew is a sixth-year NFL veteran who joined the Raiders with 37 games of experience as an NFL starter for three different teams.
Pierce named Minshew as starting quarterback after a competition for the job in preseason and training camp.
“The operation, the processing — just everything we saw in practice,” Pierce said in August of Minshew winning the job. “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.”
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
