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The Las Vegas Raiders suffered a 28-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, which saw a devastating knee injury to Vegas quarterback Aidan O'Connell that resulted in medical staff carting him off the field late in the third quarter. Moreover, the injury resulted from a seemingly late hit from Buccaneers defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, causing O'Connell to come down awkwardly on his feet. After the game, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said he requested clarification on the hit from the officials as it happened, but to no avail.
“We asked, per usual. We'll make a report, see what comes back on Monday or Tuesday,” the coach said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. In the same report, Pierce also gave an update about his quarterback's condition.
“It does not look good,” he said.
Week 14: Buccaneers def. Raiders
Previously, Aidan O'Connell had served as a backup to Gardner Minshew before his season-ending injury in the Raiders' loss in Week 12 against the Broncos, who had also served as backup to former QB Derek Carr before his release. Likewise, Minshew and O'Connell had battled it out during preseason for the starter position.
However, both QBs for the Raiders had suffered serious injury in a season that may not prove unsalvageable after all.
While the team now has to play backups Desmond Ridder and undrafted rookie Carter Bradley, now on the Raiders' practice squad, the rest of the season, they have some pieces to build on and possibly pick up.
For instance, despite the loss to the Buccaneers, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers set a single-season NFL record for most catches by a rookie TE, his late catch with 27 seconds remaining also becoming his 87th reception for the season, one more than the previous record set by Sam LaPorta for the Detroit Lions in 2023.
Still, Pierce was more reserved in his praise for his rookie.
“He's having a great individual year. Wish it could lead to more success with our team,” the coach said.
Draft chances
On the other hand, the 2-11 Raiders have also just increased their likelihood of drafting their quarterback of the future, which could either be Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, whom reports have strongly linked to Vegas, or Cam Ward of Miami.
As unfortunate as it sounds, the injury to Aidan O'Connell might lead the team to lose out the rest of the way, resulting in a top three pick for the next draft.
Additionally, in the same ESPN report, Gutierrez mentioned that the Raiders enjoy the third-highest chance to land the No.1 pick in the 2025 Draft, at 16% probability. Now it's up to the team to take advantage of the opportunity.
