Dolphins Getting Another Dose of Minchew Mania

The Miami Dolphins will be facing the struggling Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Miami Dolphins outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) tackles Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) during the second half at TIAA Bank Field in the 2020 season. / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins know who they will face at quarterback when the Las Vegas Raiders come to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday he was sticking with veteran Gardner Minshew coming off their bye instead of going with former Atlanta Falcons draft pick Desmond Ridder, even though Minshew has been benched twice this season after being signed as a free agent in the offseason.

"Listen, when we brought in Gardner, we expected, obviously, the play that we've seen in the past," Pierce said. "There's been times, obviously, with turnovers and other things that's taken place where we made decisions to either put him on the bench or go to another quarterback.

"But this week, I felt like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to move forward. And he has every opportunity to go out there and give us a win."

Minshew started seven of the Raiders' first nine games, and while his completion percentage of 67.0 is good, he's got six touchdowns against eight interceptions and an ugly 80.2 passer rating.

The Raiders pulled Minshew in favor of Aidan O'Connell during a 34-18 loss against the Denver Broncos in Week 5 and started O'Connell the next two weeks against the Pittsburgh Steelers and L.A. Rams, but O'Connell sustained a thumb injury, which put Minshew back at quarterback.

Minshew was pulled again in Las Vegas' last game, a 41-24 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, in favor of Ridder.

O'Connell started for Las Vegas when the Dolphins defeated the Raiders, 20-13, at Hard Rock Stadium last season.

MIAMI'S MINSHEW HISTORY

The Dolphins have faced Minshew once in his career, in 2020, when he was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In a Thursday night game at Jacksonville, Minshew completed 30 of 42 passes for 275 with no touchdowns and one interception in a 31-13 Dolphins victory.

The Dolphins had four sacks against Minshew that night, including one shared by two current team members, Emmanuel Ogbah and Zach Sieler.