Earlier this month, the Las Vegas Raiders decided to name veteran Gardner Minshew their starting quarterback over second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell. And it sounds like the team is impressed with him in the locker room as well as on the field.
During a recent press conference, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce sent a pretty clear message to Gardner Minshew as he praised him for doing “a lot of things without a lot of hype” when it comes to his work ethic and his leadership ability.
“Yeah, he’s a football junkie,” Pierce said according to Pro Football Talk. “We always talk about Maxx [Crosby] and Christian [Wilkins] about being the first guys in the building, but he’s not too far behind. And 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 little bit. And I think our team is really taking notice of that.
“And, obviously, since we’ve named him the starting quarterback, he’s kind of taken on that role with our skill position players and our O-line. So, it’s been good to see in the building.”
Minshew will have a chance to prove himself as a starter in the league this season. We’ll have to see how he performs.