The Raiders benched Gardner Minshew and named Aidan O'Connell QB1

HENDERSON, Nev. – Aidan O'Connell will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, replacing Gardner Minshew, coach Antonio Pierce announced Wednesday.

Minshew won a close training camp battle against O'Connell, but was benched late twice in his five starts for the Raiders, in losses to the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. The Raiders enter Sunday's game 2-3.

“I mean, it was a quarterback battle early on,” Pierce said, “and at this point I think it’s best to move on with Aidan.”

Pierce said the decision to transfer was his decision. When asked if the job was permanent for the rest of the season or if Minshew might win the job back, Pierce left the door open.

“I have no plans to move at any point,” he said. “When it comes time to make a change, we will make a change.”

Minshew completed a career-high 70.7% of his passes for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns in five games. But he also threw five interceptions, including a momentum-killing 100-yard pick-six on Sunday in Denver, and his QBR of 41.1 is a career low.

O'Connell, meanwhile, has completed 59.4% of his throws in spot duty this season for 176 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He said he was “obviously disappointed” when he wasn't named the starter after training camp, but added that Minshew had been “vocal” in his support.

O'Connell said his mindset will be the same as when he was the backup because he prepared every day as if he were the starter anyway

“I definitely know that the job is fluid, and so I just really try to do my best every day,” O'Connell said. “Today I focus on today and don’t really think about any days in the future. I have to work on what we are working on today, try to get better and use every day in that way. And that's hard.” Your brain wants to go backwards and forwards, but I think it's best to just focus on the task at hand.

Last season, Pierce promoted then-rookie O'Connell to the starting position ahead of Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer when he himself was named interim coach by the linebackers coach on Nov. 1.

O'Connell went 5-5 as a starter and threw eight touchdowns without a pick in the Raiders' last four games. This season he passed for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 appearances.

Pierce said O'Connell has been “much more vocal” this season, even when serving as Minshew's backup.

“Coming out of this shell, I don’t look like a freshman anymore,” Pierce said. “Stop acting like a newbie. He has a certain presence about him…I love the way he walks around the building.”

“What I really respect the most is when we named Gardner the starter, he said, 'Okay, I'm going to be the best scout team quarterback possible.' And he lit up our asses. And every day he looks at us at his best and walks around with a smile on his face… At the Baltimore game, he and Jackson Powers(-Johnson) rallied the troops and pumped them up And he was just a great teammate. All of these things factor into the decisions.

“He’s a stable guy,” Meyers said. “You kind of know what you’re going to get out of him. He's a consistent guy. Who he is is who he is.”

“Hopefully the team reacts well. Whatever's going to move us forward, man. We just need to win some games and stay positive.”

Jakobi Meyers, who is second on the team in catches (25) and receiving yards (273), hopes the team will respond with O'Connell under center.

He added: “Whatever’s going to move us forward, man. We just need to win a few games and stay positive.”