The Las Vegas Raiders still aren't quite sure who will be the quarterback for their second primetime game of the year on Monday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons. Aidan O'Connell was injured against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week and left that game on a cart with an air cast on his knee.
The next day, we were informed that the injury was not as bad as initially thought. O'Connell is trying to play on Monday because he's a competitor. But so is Desmond Ridder, the former Falcons starter and the former Arizona Falcons practice squad player that the Raiders signed to their active roster.
This is supposed to be Ridder's chance to show what he can do. No one wishes for anyone to be injured, but everyone wishes to get a chance, and while Ridder was likely feeling for his teammate who was injured, he was also thinking about getting a chance against his former team.
Head coach Antonio Pierce gave a brief update on O'Connell on Friday, and Ridder will not want to hear it.
"Well one, I think it is enough time because we got an extra day, so that really helps us this week," Pierce said. "He [O'Connell] won't go today in practice. He's getting better though. He is improving, and we'll just take it throughout the week and see as we get closer to Monday night. Really all of the above, honestly. Don't want to put a player out there that's hurt that can then become injured and now you’ve got something that's long-term. Knock on wood, we avoided that Sunday. So he's coming along. He's fighting his tail off in there with our trainers and doing a good job there.
"And listen, he's a warrior, he wants to play. So if he has the opportunity to play, he'll play. Well with Desmond [Ridder], here's the crazy part. Last week, Thursday, because Aidan [O'Connell] didn't practice cause of sickness, he got all those reps, and then look what happened in the game, right? So yesterday, he got a lot of reps. He'll get the majority of the reps today, and we'll just take it day by day. But the way our season's gone, all our quarterbacks are ready to go, so we’ve got to get them ready to go."
Ridder has played this year. He hasn't started a game yet, but he has played, and when he has played in the games he has played in, he's been good for the most part, all things considered. No matter who plays on Monday, the task at hand is to lose, but to remain competitive and to see what's there.
The Raiders need this No. 1 pick regardless of who plays. After this game, they will play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are also competing for the No. 1 pick.
