Gardner Minshew will get the start this weekend after all.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday that, despite his struggles and the team’s seemingly constant rotation at the position, Minshew will start at quarterback Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
“Listen, when we brought in Gardner, we expected, obviously, the play that we had seen in the past and at some point, you’ve got to give a guy confidence,” Pierce said, via ESPN. “And there’s been times, obviously, with turnovers and other things that have taken place, where we made decisions to either put him on the bench or go to another quarterback.
“But this week I felt like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to move forward and he has every opportunity to go out there and help us get to a win.”
The Raiders have struggled across the board this season, and they’ve not had a consistent quarterback from the jump. Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder have all cycled through the position, and none of them have had much success.
Minshew opened the season as the team’s starter, but O’Connell took over in Week 5. Minshew jumped back in after O’Connell broke his thumb a few weeks later, but he was benched in the second half of their most recent loss for Ridder.
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The Raiders sit at 2-7 on the season coming out of their bye week. They fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangearello before the break, too. Among other moves, the team brought in Norv Turner as a senior adviser.
Minshew, who signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Raiders this past offseason, has thrown for 1,501 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He has 12 total turnovers and averages 1.5 per game — both of which are the second-worst among quarterbacks in the league. Only Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has more.
Though the Raiders seem well out of contention for a playoff spot, and it would take a wild turnaround in order for them to make the postseason in a few months, Pierce is hoping their week off can at least help get things started.
“Needed to take a good cold shower, cold bath, wash all that badness off that took place over the nine games and I think our staff did the same,” Pierce said. “I know our players did, but they were still around the building, which is the best thing about it, right?
“People might question our locker room, might question our culture, might question me, but you can’t question our commitment. We’re committed to this bad boy and turning it around.”
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