We don’t know who is going to be the Raiders starting quarterback, but NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal offered an interesting perspective on the team’s quarterbacks from training camp this week.
Like others, Rosenthal said that Aidan O’Connell didn’t look quite as comfortable as he did a year ago.
“I thought you saw it today. Aiden O’Connell just doesn’t look confident,” Rosenthal said on the JT The Brick Show. “I went into this training camp thinking he was good for a rookie. I know he’s an older rookie, but I went back and watched some of those games, the Indianapolis game, the first Kansas City game. He made a lot of high level throws, didn’t make too many mistakes. I thought his arm was a little better than I saw here today. And I think that it was, he was not comfortable yet in this scheme, which makes sense. He’s going against a good defense.”
On Gardner Minshew, Rosenthal shared a nugget that might be good news for Raider fans.
“Minshew is a guy who’s always been a better player than he is practice player,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many teams and camps I’ve talked to where the coaches never really like Gardner Minshew, but then he gets on the field and then they like Gardner Minshew in a game situation.”
For anyone needing a reminder of how well Minshew has played in actual games, his career numbers compare favorably to Trevor Lawrence, who just signed a five-year $275 million contract with the Jaguars.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said this week that there hasn’t been much separation between Minshew and O’Connell in practice, and it will be interesting to see how they perform on Saturday against the Vikings.
It feels like a lot will be on the line for a game this early in the preseason.
A strong performance from either quarterback on Saturday would set the tone for the week and might put an end to the split reps in practice… because at some point soon, Pierce will want to start giving more reps to the quarterback that is going to start in the regular season opener.
Maybe next week will be the week.
