Antonio Pierce on Raiders' QB Battle: Vikings Preseason Game Will Be 'Very Telling'

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce says Saturday's preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings will be "very telling" as to whether Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew II will enter the regular season as QB1.

"I want to see these guys take care of the ball, manage the team, take care of situational football," Pierce told reporters Wednesday, via Yahoo Sports' Jori Epstein.

Pierce went on to detail his impressions of the two signal callers involved in the Raiders' quarterback battle.

"Let's be honest. Aidan's your classic quarterback, drop-back quarterback... highly accurate, can throw the ball outside the numbers," Pierce said. "Gardner's really set. Does a good job of patrolling, poise, feels things around him, good feeling in the pocket."

Pierce concluded: "It's up to offensive staff to put that together, regardless of who the quarterback is, what works for him, what helps our offense be effective."

Pierce previously said that both Minshew and O'Connell will play one quarter of Saturday's preseason contest, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.

Whichever quarterback does not start against the Vikings will get the nod to start the following Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys, Gutierrez reported.

It is not yet clear what level of competition the signal callers will face during the first weekend of the preseason, however. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell decided to rest most of the team's starters for the first outing of the 2023 preseason.

Minshew and O'Connell both became surprise starters midway through the 2023 season, with Minshew stepping up for an injured Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts and O'Connell taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo in Vegas. Both are now working to earn another shot at starting before the regular season kicks off Sept. 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers.