Near the end of the Raiders' Week 12 game against the Broncos, Gardner Minshew went down badly and was taken to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury. He was replaced as quarterback by Desmond Ridder.
With the revelation that With a broken collarbone, Ridder appears to have a legitimate chance to be the starter when the Raiders take on the Chiefs next Friday. A chance Ridder is ready for.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m ready to play,” Ridder said after Sunday’s game. “I've been here almost a month now. I feel comfortable with the offense. I'm ready to go. Whatever the situation may be, it is not up to me, it is up to the higher power, but I am ready for any situation.”
His head coach seems to have a slightly different view of Ridder's readiness to be the team's starter.
“It’s not enough reps,” Pierce said. “When Gardner was in there, we gave him all the reps. He's done a lot in seven-on-seven, but to sit there and say we've seen enough? No. We saw the film, he played in this league and today was obviously tough. I've been sitting on the bench for the last 55 minutes and now you're throwing him into the ball game, but he did his best.”
Ridder entered the game late in the fourth quarter and on his second play of the game, a rusher came around the left edge, hit him in the arm as he threw, and forced the Broncos into a fumble that was recovered within scoring range.
He then encountered a weak Broncos defense and was able to break down the field before finally being fired in goal to get out of the first period. He plans to be ready to step in as a starter when called upon, just as he would at any time during a game.
“You try to do as much as you can to stay warm, whether it's in the first half by stretching or in the halftime break by getting on the bike in the third quarter and throwing every drop in between,” Ridder added. “So basically it’s just a matter of being ready. And I'm always ready to go. I’m going to make sure I’m never unprepared to go into that situation.”
Former starter Aidan O'Connell is eligible to return from injured reserve this week, and when he's ready to go, he's expected to be the most likely to reclaim his starting spot. But if not, Ridder will have to get up to speed with his teammates in three days to face the best team in the NFL at their home in Arrowhead.
