Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who hurt his left knee in the loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday, participated in a walkthrough practice on Wednesday and hopes to play against Atlanta.
Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce, however, wasn’t ready to confirm that O’Connell would start in the Monday night game against the Falcons.
“We’ll see how the week goes,” Pierce said. O’Connell also took a careful approach, even though he didn’t seem to have any trouble walking when he entered the indoor facility and locker room.
“I can obviously walk and move around and just obviously doing some stuff in the water, but trying to get on the field and move around today, which I did,” O’Connell said. “So just trying to progress and trusting the training staff to get me where I want to be.”
If O’Connell can’t play, Desmond Ridder will start against his old team. Ridder started 13 games for the Falcons last season before being traded to Arizona. The Raiders signed him off the Cardinals’ practice squad on October 21.
“Whether it’s against the Falcons — it doesn’t matter who it’s against — any opportunity that I get to go out there and showcase my talents, it’s an exciting time,” Ridder said.
He has had a few chances to play this season. Ridder has appeared in four games as a backup, completing 28 of 44 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown without any interceptions.
Now, he hopes to get his first start of the season. “It’s not like I’ve been sitting for a couple years,” Ridder said. “To be able to go out there in the previous week and have experience, it’s been huge.” O’Connell has faced several setbacks this season, including in the preseason.
He first lost the starting position to Gardner Minshew. Then, after Pierce made a change at quarterback, O’Connell broke his thumb in a game against the Los Angeles Rams and missed nearly six weeks.
After returning to the lineup, two games later, he was slammed to the ground by Buccaneers defensive lineman Calijah Kancey.
“I think you have to be tough in the NFL. I don’t think I’m unique in that way,” O’Connell said. “We’ve got a lot of tough guys. I think it’s funny the quarterback gets hurt and everyone’s talking about it, but we have offensive linemen, defensive linemen, guys that are dealing with things every day and people never talk about it.”
At first, it seemed unlikely that O’Connell would be able to play after his injury against the Buccaneers. He was carted off the field with an air cast on his left knee. But an MRI showed a bruised bone, and O’Connell received better news about his injury.
“It definitely hurt on the field and my knee wasn’t responding how the doctors hoped it would,” O’Connell said. “So, yeah, you definitely fear the worst going through that. But then got some imaging done and it seemed like it was definitely best-case scenario.”
To make sure there would be enough healthy quarterbacks for Monday’s game, Las Vegas activated quarterback Carter Bradley from the practice squad on Tuesday. His father, Gus, is the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts.
“Dealing with injuries, might as well have three quarterbacks up the way the season’s been going,” Pierce said. “Carter’s done a really good job giving us a look on the practice squad. I think as the season’s gone on, it’s practice, but you have seen improvement.”
