Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday that Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell is expected to miss four to six weeks with a broken thumb on his right (throwing) hand, based on preliminary testing. He’s scheduled to undergo further evaluation on Tuesday.
O’Connell left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams after Las Vegas’ second possession after Rams safety Kamren Curl made contact with O’Connell’s right hand as O’Connell followed through on a pass on third-and-21. O’Connell was in obvious pain as he and the Raiders’ offense left the field, with athletic trainers examining his hand on the sideline before he left for the locker room. The QB was later seen wearing a heavily wrapped splint on the thumb after Sunday’s 20-15 loss. O’Connell said of the timing of the injury: “Super unfortunate. I was really looking forward to today and this opportunity, and so for it to be cut short like that was definitely hard.”
Gardner Minshew replaced O’Connell at QB after his departure, completing 15 of 34 passes for 154 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions in the loss. O’Connell, a second-year veteran, took over from Minshew as the Raiders’ starting quarterback last week in a 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was O’Connell’s first start since he started 10 games as a rookie in 2023.
Minshew signed to a two-year free agent contract with $15 million guaranteed, and won the starting job in the preseason. He completed a career-high 70.7% of his passes for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns in five starts.
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