Raiders Are Letting QB Gardner Minshew II be Himself

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew II struggled for most of the first two games of the season. That is, until his teammates and coaches encouraged him to be himself.

Sep 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) takes the snap against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders struggled on offense for seven out of the season's first eight quarters.

Things changed against the Baltimore Ravens after the unit experienced adversity right before halftime after quarterback Gardner Minshew II threw an interception that could have been costly. However, veteran defensive lineman Maxx Crosby refused to let Minshew and the offense get down on themselves, reassuring Minshew that the defense had the offense’s back and that all the team needed was for Minshew to be himself. 

“It's awesome, man,” Minshew said. “He grabbed me and just said, 'Hey, we got your back, dude. We need that Washington State Gardner [Minshew]. We need that.' And I was like, 'Man, you're right, dude. Let me see if I can go whip that up real quick.' But no man, that dude is a great leader. He does it the right way, man, and I couldn't be more grateful to have him on our team.” 

Coach Antonio Pierce said he finally saw the version of Minshew the coaching staff knew he could be all along. Pierce said Minshew being himself played a large part in the offense’s turnaround and that he is looking for more from the unit after a productive week of practice. 

"Yeah, I saw it in the fourth quarter, and that's what we've been asking for,” Pierce said. “And I told him that from day one, the day he came up to the office and told him he's a quarterback. I said, ‘Be you, man. Be you. Whatever that is.’ The flip flop things throw me off sometimes, ‘But just be you. Just be you, whatever your personality is, let that come out.’”

“I can't do the roller coaster stuff for personalities and emotions. And I think he finally just came out of his shell and took it off. Between him and our skill players, they really made a lot of plays. And to be honest, yesterday, and you hear this a lot, yesterday was our best practice in a long time, offensively in a long, long time. It was really crisp, lot of energy, speed was up, guys were running around having fun. So, we need to carry that on into Sunday."

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