WATCH: Raiders' O'Connell Speaks During Falcons Week

The Las Vegas Raiders face the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. Quarterback Aidan O'Connell spoke on Wednesday.
Las Vegas Raiders QB1 Aidan O'Connell
Las Vegas Raiders QB1 Aidan O'Connell / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated
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LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell has seemingly been unlocked under interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner.

It almost took a drastic turn this past Sunday when O'Connell suffered a deep bruise on his knee and had to exit the matchup against Buccaneers. Against another NFC South team, the Atlanta Falcons, O'Connell could end up starting.

The second-year quarterback spoke during Falcons week on Wednesday, and we have the full video right here:

Below is a partial transcript from Antonio Pierce's Dec. 9 presser:

Q: Getting into yesterday's game - you guys had five [takeaways] for the whole season, you had three yesterday, four sacks. What can you say about the defense?

Coach Pierce: "Just constantly improving, something we talk about and work on each week, starts individual, then in team periods. But I think just a conscious effort of our players. Really, you always talk about go get turnovers, well go out there and just take them, take them away. And I thought we did a good job pressuring the quarterback. We got a forced fumble there. Then obviously with the interceptions, heads up play by 44 [K'Lavon Chaisson] and Jack [Jones] had one in the end zone to take points off the board."

Q: Do you have an update on Aidan O'Connell?

Coach Pierce: "No, not yet. We're still waiting on the results."

Q: Are you thinking Desmond Ridder is going to be the starter this week?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, if no Aidan [O'Connell], it'll be Desmond [Ridder] as of now."

Q: Having gone through this process of working in a new quarterback a couple times this season, have you learned anything about what works best throughout the week?

Coach Pierce: "Yep, less is more. Less is more. Know what you're dealing with at quarterback. Really play into the quarterback. It isn’t so much what we want to do scheme wise, coaches with ideas we have, what works for the quarterback? What are they familiar with? What are they comfortable with? What can we execute at a high level with? And if we do that, we'll put ourselves in better positions so we can speed up the game for the quarterback and not slow it down."

Q: Having Desmond Ridder in the building for a while now and he's gotten game action, how valuable is that?

Coach Pierce: "I think it's been good. I mean oddly enough, he's played in a lot of games, right? So it's the way the season's gone for us. But there's been some bright spots. There were some other spots we wish we had back. But what we do see is a guy that's very competitive, that takes his job serious, and he has an opportunity. If Aidan [O'Connell] is not able to go and he's [Desmond Ridder] the starter, it's another great opportunity for him to showcase himself.

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Hondo Carpenter
HONDO CARPENTER

Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. is an award-winning sports journalist who brings decades of experience to his role as editor and publisher, and beat writer for our Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL coverage. Carpenter is a member of the PFWA, FWAA, and USBWA.