Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll gave his assessment of backup signal-caller Aidan O'Connell's performance in preseason Week 2. In the process, he mentioned a big problem the Raiders' offense has with O'Connell at the helm.
Pete Carroll points out big problem with Aidan O'Connell: 'Still trying to work that out' originally appeared on The Sporting News
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell has struggled mightily this preseason and doesn't seem to have taken a step forward as he enters his third year in the NFL.
After striking out in his opportunities to start the past few seasons, O'Connell is going to be the backup to Geno Smith in 2025. However, it doesn't look like the Raiders are going to be in good hands if Smith gets injured.
O'Connell tossed a pair of picks in the preseason Week 1 game against the Seattle Seahawks, and then he followed that up by throwing another ugly pick in the preseason Week 2 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
In his assessment of O'Connell's performance on Saturday, head coach Pete Carroll pointed to a big issue with the third-year signal-caller.
"I thought Aidan continued to little bit — we're not quite as fast when he's playing," Carroll admitted. "We don't play as quick from huddle to the snap, still trying to work that out. And he made a poor choice on the throw for the pick, unfortunately. It was a crucial time, that was tough. Just the guy was covered, and if he had to it throw away or take off, we would have preferred that."
The aforementioned pick against the Niners was a throw O'Connell simply cannot make. Not only was his target well-covered, but the Niners defensive back was completely in front of the Raiders receiver before O'Connell threw the ball.
“Can’t make that throw,” former Raiders quarterback and announcer Rich Gannon rightly said on the broadcast.
Interestingly enough, O'Connell's pick came while general manager John Spytek was in the booth. Spytek did not have a verbal reaction to the play.
Despite his issues, O'Connell is probably going to remain the Raiders' QB2 by default.
Rookie Cam Miller has no doubt shown some flashes over two preseason games, but he came back down to Earth a bit in preseason Week 2 and it's unlikely he's done enough to unseat the Purdue product, much to the chagrin of Raiders fans.
We do think, however, that Miller has shown enough for the Raiders to keep him around on the 53-man roster as a project in the hopes he can defy the odds and become a starting quarterback some day.
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Category: Football
