The Vegas Raiders took a big blow in Saturday night’s pre-season final, falling to the Arizona Cardinals 20-10 and losing to alternate quarterback Aidan O’Connell broke his right wrist.
After the game, head coach Pete Carroll confirmed that O’Connell needed surgery and was expected to miss six to eight weeks.
The injury occurred in 10 games for the Raiders in the second quarter, 32-yard play, and was covered by 52-yard Daniel Carlson’s shot. The trainer checked O’Connell on the deputy line before heading to the locker room. Later, he wore a clip to throw it on his hand. Sixth round rookie Cam Miller took over the center and finished 124 yards out of 24 with 61.5 passer ratings.
Carroll admits the setback: “Aidan will be out for a while. We have to see what we can do and continue to develop CAM.”
Now entering his third NFL season, O’Connell threw 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions (17 games) in 20 professional games.
He also missed the time because of the time when his thumb broke. He has been tough in Carroll’s preseason, having four turnovers in three games, including a stripper against Arizona in the first quarter, which was the Cardinal’s touchdown.
Carroll noted that speed has been an issue for O’Connell: “From huddle to snap, we’re not that fast. Still trying to solve this problem.”
With O’Connell likely heading to the injured reserves, the Raiders’ quarterback room attributed to starters Geno Smith and Miller, who worked primarily with the third team in the preseason (32 out of 61, 305 yards, a touchdown, an interception). When asked if Miller was ready to strengthen QB2, Carroll replied: “Let’s take a look.”
As a result, Las Vegas is expected to explore adding another quarterback by Week 1.
