Aidan O'Connell gets honest about losing Raiders starting QB job

The Las Vegas Raiders decided to choose experience over upside by naming Gardner Minshew as the starting quarterback. For a bit, it looked like Aidan O'Connell had the job locked down until he threw an ugly pick-six against the Dallas Cowboys in the team's second preseason game.

While there were likely many factors that went into the decision, O'Connell has to be dissapointed with the outcome. Despite losing the job, he's going to keep trying to keep his head up as the season moves forward.

“Obviously tough,” O’Connell said during his Tuesday media availability. “I was hoping for better news, but that’s how it goes. So I’ll just keep battling and try to put my best foot forward every day.”

O'Connell isn't going to pout and he knows he hasn't had the best offseason. He just wants to be a good teammate going forward.

“I could have definitely had a better camp and preseason,” O'Connell said. “Now it’s just about trying to learn and grow from it.

“I’ll just try to prepare every day like I’m the starter. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s what I’m going to try to do. I know what it takes to play. I got the great experience of playing last year, so I’ll just try to support Gardner and be ready to go.”

There's a good chance that O'Connell will see the field this season, especially if Minshew struggles. He needs to stay ready throughout the entire season as he could have an opportunity to steal back the starting job at some point.

If he does get playing time and doesn't play well, his chances of being the starter again would be low. He has to ensure that if he does play, he's able to lead the offense to some touchdown drives. It's a tough blow to lose the starting job but O'Connell still has a job to do and needs to do it well.