INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Even before Aidan O’Connell left Sunday’s game with a thumb injury, and even before Gardner Minshew II came in and turned the ball over four more times, there was already talk at Las Vegas Raiders headquarters of pushing the desperation button.
And Sunday’s 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams only means that the Raiders may just do that and turn to undrafted rookie Carter Bradley at quarterback sooner than later.
And, really, why not?
With all the injuries on defense and the trade of Davante Adams last week, the Raiders are circling the drain now at 2-5. O’Connell broke his thumb in the first quarter, league sources said, and will undergo further testing on Monday. Minshew, once full of confidence, has lost his mojo as the veteran is not seeing the field well and is paying a big price for a lack of accuracy.
Four turnovers in a five-point loss is “not fair to the rest of the team,” Minshew said afterward.
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Would the Raiders really turn to Bradley, who had 14 touchdown passes in four years at Toledo before transferring to South Alabama and finding success as a two-year starter? He mostly handed the ball off this preseason, finishing 17-of-34 for 275 yards and a touchdown and interception.
The topic surely came up again when owner Mark Davis talked to coach Antonio Pierce on Sunday night.
Maybe this week is not the week to do it, with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs coming to town. But it’s not like the following week, at the Cincinnati Bengals, is a picnic.
No one would throw the word “tank” around — you can go ahead and use “rebuilding” — but the Raiders are injured enough that they can try to win while giving every younger player a chance and maybe help their draft stock in trying to get a franchise quarterback.
Who knows what Bradley, the son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, can be? You might think you have a good idea, but the Raiders think he has a live arm and that’s a start. Minshew and O’Connell don’t, and I don’t think Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco really need to see Minshew break a tie with Will Levis for most turnovers in the NFL (10). And as Pierce said when the Raiders benched Minshew for O’Connell two weeks ago, they know what O’Connell can do. (They didn’t score on his two possessions before his injury.)
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All three Rams scores on Sunday came off Minshew turnovers. His first interception set up a Kyren Williams 13-yard touchdown run and the next drive ended with him being strip-sacked and Kamren Curl returning it 33 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-3 with 1:14 left in the second quarter.
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Minshew’s second interception came on short pass across the middle to DJ Turner in the third quarter that was behind the receiver and was deflected up and picked off by Jaylen McCollough at the Raiders’ 31-yard line. Two plays later, Williams had his second touchdown of the day.
“That’s on me,” Minshew said. “That’s unacceptable to have that many turnovers. I gotta be smarter with the ball.”
Minshew already has eight interceptions on the year after throwing only nine in 17 games with the Indianapolis Colts last season. Is he pressing?
“Maybe so … maybe so,” he said. “It’s super frustrating. I have never turned the ball over like this in my life.”
The Raiders had opportunities to get back in the game but settled for three field goals late in the third and early in the fourth quarter before and after a Nate Hobbs interception (off a Robert Spillane tip) and a Rams missed field goal. They were going to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line down 20-12 but a false start on rookie tackle DJ Glaze led to Pierce opting for the field goal with 2:46 left.
His reasoning was the Raiders had all three timeouts and would get the ball back — and they did, but Minshew, under pressure, threw his third interception. The Raiders, despite missing both Adams (trade) and Jakobi Meyers (ankle), actually outgained the Rams, 317 to 259 yards, on the day.
“One play away, one block away here and there,” Minshew said.
Pierce also pointed at the 10 penalties for 80 yards (the Rams had three).
“Penalties and turnovers, it sounds like a broken record,” Pierce said.
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The defense and Daniel Carlson (five field goals) kept the Raiders in the game, as the Rams are also extremely beat up and also playing without their top receivers.
“We’re getting pretty close to must-win time,” Carlson said. “But all we can really do is try to fix one thing at a time starting tomorrow and go from there. There are no easy answers but we have to keep pushing forward.”
The only answer offensively Sunday was rookie tight end Brock Bowers. The Raiders threw him the ball 14 times and he caught 10 of them for 93 yards. The running game was better but not good enough against the league’s 32nd-ranked run defense.
“It can’t just be the Brock Bowers show,” Pierce said. “That’s not helping us win right now.”
More than winning, the Raiders just need a shot of hope to get through the next 10 games. Getting Meyers back next week would be a start. And turning to another quarterback may not hurt, either.
(Photo of Gardner Minshew: Robert Hanashiro / Imagn Images)
