By: Tashan Reed, Vic Tafur and RJ Kraft

Desmond Ridder will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders in Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Aidan O’Connell is inactive and is named the team’s third emergency quarterback. Ridder will be the third starter at the position for Las Vegas this season – Gardner Minshew II started nine games before suffering a season-ending collarbone injury, and O’Connell made four starts.

All week, coach Antonio Pierce claimed that if O’Connell couldn’t go, it would be Ridder under center. O’Connell missed three straight practices this week and was listed as questionable. O’Connell, who has thrown for 899 yards and completed 63.2 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and three interceptions this season, was sent off the field in Week 14.

Rookie Carter Bradley will be the team’s backup and was added to the roster last week.

The lack of a definitive announcement of a starter before the game was likely a playful move to prepare Atlanta for two quarterbacks. Raiders iInterim offensive coordinator Scott Turner prepared two game plans this week – one for O’Connell and one for Ridder.

“They’re different types of players,” Turner said last week. “You try to play to your guys’ strengths, so we’re ready. … We’ll basically have two types of plans in place to take advantage of each player’s strength, depending on which direction they’re going.”

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For Ridder, it’s against his old team, which drafted the Cincinnati product in the third round of the 2022 draft. As a starter, he compiled an 8-9 record in two seasons in Atlanta before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals in March. Las Vegas signed Ridder from Arizona’s practice squad in October.

Ridder completed all first-team reps in training last week. Pierce said he talked to Ridder about keeping his composure despite playing against his old team.

“You have to take the emotional part out of it,” Pierce said last week. “It’s not about Desmond versus the Atlanta Falcons. It’s the Raiders versus the Atlanta Falcons, and he understands that. Listen, just do your job as quarterback. You don’t have to be Superman and go out and win alone. It’s a team sport. Understand what we’re trying to do with the game plan if it’s Desmond. But more importantly, don’t make it a singles match, right? This is in your past. You’ve moved on and you have a great opportunity here. Worry about it.”

Ridder played in four games with the Raiders. He completed 28 of 44 passes for 239 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and also fumbled three times. In his career, the 25-year-old has thrown for 3,783 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

“There are times where I feel like I’m doing too much in that category, where I’m running into a zero-yard sack, a zero-gain sack, instead of just sitting in the pocket and “waiting for something to develop,” Ridder said Wednesday. “So those are still some of the things where I’m learning timing, patience and presence to be able to go out there and do my best.”

As the end of the season nears, the Raiders must evaluate their options to move up at quarterback next offseason. Below are the results from SundayThe Raiders have the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft (pending Monday’s results). Las Vegas has a 30 percent chance of being the top pick, based on Austin Mock’s model.

Las Vegas will be without three-time Pro Bowl defenseman Maxx Crosby, who will undergo season-ending surgery for an ankle injury. Defensive player Charles Snowden was also inactive after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving last week.

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(Photo: Ian Maule/Getty Images)