Raiders waiting for Minshew or O'Connell to become 'the guy' amid QB battle

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce still hasn't seen enough from Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew amid his team's quarterback competition at training camp.

"To be honest, they're competing against a really good defense, so it's not going to be pretty at times," Pierce told CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones on Tuesday.

He added: "Right now, we need to see somebody just say, 'AP, I'm the guy. I'm the quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders, and this is what it is.' Until we get to that point, we're just going to keep letting them battle, and there's nothing wrong with that because when we see competition at quarterback, it picks everybody else up."

The Raiders signed Minshew to a two-year, $25-million contract in free agency after he spent last season with the Indianapolis Colts. The 28-year-old, who's on his third team in as many seasons, boasts a 15-22 career record as a starter.

O'Connell made 11 appearances (10 starts) for the Raiders as a fourth-round rookie last year, passing for 12 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Both quarterbacks have had ups and downs at camp. Neither looked good on Tuesday and both tossed multiple off-target throws under pressure, notes ESPN's Paul Gutierrez. Minshew and O'Connell have been equally splitting first-team snaps during practice.

"We'll do that for probably another week or so and then somebody needs to take the bull by the horn and say, 'I'm your guy,'" Pierce added, per Jones.

The 45-year-old Pierce became the Raiders' interim head coach midway through the 2023 season and had an immediate impact on the team, significantly improving its defense in particular. Las Vegas removed his interim tag this past offseason.

The Raiders have struggled at quarterback in recent years and started three different signal-callers in 2023 (O'Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brian Hoyer).