Raiders have not announced starting quarterback for Thursday night matchup vs. Chargers

Following a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders appear to be reevaluating the quarterback position. Wednesday, interim head coach Antonio Pierce didn’t say whether Aidan O’Connell would start Thursday night against the rival Los Angeles Chargers. 

“We’re still going through that process,” Pierce said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Got a couple more hours. See how it’s going.”

While Pierce sounds like the Raiders are mulling going back to Jimmy Garoppolo, he wanted to make it clear nothing has been decided yet. 

“I never said Aidan wasn’t the starter, let’s say that first and foremost,” Pierce said. “We’re still evaluating it. If there’s a chance to get better, a chance to improve, a chance to put us in position to win, we gotta get all the factors that go into it.”

The Raiders have now lost three straight games after winning two straight following the firing of Josh McDaniels. When Pierce took over as the interim lead man, he benched Garoppolo for the rookie O’Connell. 

Jimmy G went 3-3 as the starter for Vegas, and was averaging career lows in yards per attempt (7.2), passer rating (78.1) and TD-INT ratio (0.78) before his demotion. O’Connell is averaging 195 passing yards per game, and has thrown four touchdowns compared to seven interceptions in seven total games played while going 2-4 as the starter. During this three-game losing streak, the Purdue product has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions, while the Raiders have been outscored 54-30.