Gardner Minshew II is back at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Starting Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams with a thumb injury after the second possession in Las Vegas. This was reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network it is feared that O’Connell has broken the thumb of his throwing hand.
O’Connell will be further evaluated on Monday to confirm the injury.
Rams safety Kamren Curl made contact with O’Connell’s right hand as O’Connell followed on a pass on third-and-21.
The play did not result in a first down. O’Connell appeared to be in pain as he and the Raiders offense left the field. Athletic trainers watched O’Connell’s hand on the sideline before O’Connell left the field for the locker room. Minshew replaced O’Connell at QB on the ensuing Las Vegas possession.
The Raiders later announced that O’Connell was questionable to return with a thumb injury. The match was scoreless when O’Connell left the match.
O’Connell, a second-year veteran, took over as the Raiders’ starting quarterback last week in a 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was O’Connell’s first start since starting 10 games as a rookie in 2023.
Minshew signed with the Raiders in the offseason and won the starting job in the preseason. But head coach Antonio Pierce benched him in a Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos and named O’Connell as the starter ahead of last week’s game against the Steelers.
The Raiders entered Sunday’s game in last place in the AFC West at 2-4.
