Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell should be “ready to play” against the Jaguars

Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell should be “ready to play” against the Jaguars

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell “should be ready to go” and start Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said Friday.

This came after O’Connell was carted off the field with a cast on his left leg at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 8 and missed Monday night’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

He trained at full capacity this week.

“It felt great,” O’Connell said earlier this week. “Yeah, it felt really good. It’s always fun being out there with the guys and yeah, the body felt great.”

O’Connell lost a training camp battle to free agent signee Gardner Minshew, but took over for an ineffective Minshew in Week 6.

A broken thumb on his right (passing) hand, suffered in his second start, sidelined O’Connell for four games before once again replacing Minshew, who suffered a season-ending broken collarbone on November 24.

O’Connell then suffered a knee injury in Tampa Bay and was replaced by Desmond Ridder against the Falcons.

“I’ve definitely watched a lot more than I wanted to this year, from the sidelines or wherever, and so it was definitely frustrating not being on the field,” said O’Connell, who played in four who started six games this season. “I think I learned a lot in high school and college, both of which involved sitting on the bench for a while and waiting my turn. (That) definitely taught me patience.”

“But at the same time, I think I know what it’s like to have to work and when you’re not out there and maybe not being able to see the progress day by day, but (I) just have to kind of trust.” Procedure.”

O’Connell, who started 10 games for the Raiders as a rookie, has passed for 899 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 63.2% of his passes.

“If you just live game by game, I think that’s a dangerous place to be and so I’m definitely going to focus and make it a one-game season,” he said. “But I hope I can play a lot more football as my career progresses.”

“So I just take the opportunity as it is and I think if you put too much pressure on yourself you put yourself in a bad position. So I’m just going to hold on tight and focus on this week and whatever. “Whatever comes after that, I’ll worry about that later.”

The Raiders, who have lost 10 straight games, share the league’s worst record with the New York Giants at 2-12, while the Jaguars are 3-11.

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