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Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce spoke with reporters Friday about how veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo dealt with being benched in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell for a minimum of this Sunday’s dwelling recreation in opposition to the 2-6 New York Giants.
“You are delicate to it, however you’re direct,” Pierce mentioned about his dialog with Garoppolo, per Charean Williams of Professional Soccer Discuss. “You simply nip it within the bud, which we did. We talked about it like grown males. However on the finish of the day, Jimmy is on our group. Jimmy’s nonetheless a captain. Jimmy’s nonetheless a pacesetter. I’m certain sooner or later, Jimmy’s going to have the ball in his hand once more. Issues occur. It’s the Nationwide Soccer League. You’re by no means going to say, ‘It’s 100% that is how we’re going to do it.’ Issues can occur.”
With Las Vegas sitting at 3-5 on the season, Raiders proprietor Mark Davis fired each head coach Josh McDaniels and basic supervisor Dave Ziegler hours after Tuesday’s NFL commerce deadline expired. Williams famous it is unclear if Davis or Pierce benched Garoppolo, however Rachel Gossen of the Raiders’ web site talked about that Pierce mentioned on Wednesday that O’Connell “provides us the perfect likelihood” to win.
In accordance with ESPN stats, Garoppolo has thrown a league-worst 9 interceptions this season and is ranked thirtieth amongst certified gamers with a 35.4 adjusted QBR. He is twenty ninth with a 78.1 passer score, and he tossed seven landing passes throughout six contests.
To check, O’Connell accomplished 34 of 52 passes for 313 yards with a landing and two interceptions throughout his first two video games as a professional. He additionally recorded a dashing rating over these outings.
Garoppolo will function O’Connell’s major backup in opposition to the Giants.
“I’m very appreciative to Jimmy,” Pierce continued. “Since Jimmy has been right here, he’s achieved nothing however grow to be a professional and actually taught our group to be a professional and in addition the right way to win, and after I say win, I’m not speaking about on the grass all the time. I’m speaking about within the assembly rooms, the right way to carry your self, the right way to discuss, the right way to deal with adversarial conditions, and that’s what I’m pleased with.”
Garoppolo inked a three-year contract that reportedly might be price as much as $72.5M with $33.75M assured at signing to hitch the Raiders this previous offseason. It is unknown what the franchise’s new management will consider the 32-year-old come March 2024. Except Davis is actually forcing Pierce to play O’Connell till additional discover, the interim coach may resolve as quickly as this coming Monday that he wants Garoppolo again atop the depth chart.
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