LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Raiders quarterback battle was the biggest headline in training camp.
Five-year veteran Gardner Minshew beat out Aidan O'Connell for the QB1 spot this season thanks in part to his experience on Sundays.
"Obviously happy to be in the role I am," Minshew said. "Super grateful, a lot has gone into it. A lot of people have helped me. Now I just want to help this team win. Whatever we got to do, just get better each week and win some football games."
Minshew has started 37 total games in his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts.
The Raiders will be banking on that experience early this season with three of their first four opponents having top six defenses last year.
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Head coach Antonio Pierce has used the term "football junkie" as a way to describe Minshew.
"We always talk about Maxx and Cristian about being the first guys in the building, but he's not too far behind," Pierce said. "He stays late and he's done a lot of things without a lot of hype and things that we talk about throughout the building that's starting to show up a bit. I think our team has taken notice of that."
Last season Minshew went 7-6 in 13 games for the Colts, throwing a career high in passing yards and nearly leading them to the playoffs.
Now he will be under a bigger spotlight, something he says he's ready for, especially with the supporting cast around him.
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"When you see the trajectory from the spring where we started through fall camp against a very challenging defense every day and didn't give us any breaks, I have confidence In our body of work and I'm ready to take that on the road," Minshew said.
