It’s been a couple weeks since Gardner Minshew was officially named the Raiders starting quarterback, ending a months long competition between he and 2023 starter Aidan O’Connell.
Minshew outplayed O’Connell, if only slightly, as camp and preseason went along. But it was more than that. Head coach Antonio Pierce mentioned at the time that Minshew’s personality played a role in his decision.
His personality is infectious, his energy is infectious, his leadership is infectious,” Pierce said of Minshew.
While Minshew has never been the type of QB to wow anyone with his arm on the field, his personality has made him a favorite by his teammates. That’s not just his spirited, happy-go-lucky demeanor, but also his work ethic.
Those were clearly top priorities by the team this year as evidenced by the fact that the top two free agents they signed were Minshew and DT Christian Wilkins.
“What’s that word the kids say now? Aura? Yeah, Gardner’s definitely got some aura,” Wilkins said. “I love that dude. He’s a lot of fun to be around. Me and him go way back to college and we were drafted in the same year. So, I definitely got a lot of respect for Gardner. He’s definitely got an infectious personality and all that good stuff. He’s always coming in every day with a smile, great energy, and is always ready to work, so that’s definitely something that we can all get behind as a team and that we all see.”
For Minshew, his approach to preparation has always been the same. It’s simply about loving and appreciating being around his teammates and preparing to play.
“I’ve always really enjoyed the process of it,” said Minshew. “If you only like the games, that’s like 1% of the time you’re doing this and the rest of the time you’re miserable, that doesn’t really make sense to me. So, I always just try to enjoy every second in the building. The locker room, the team atmosphere is something that’s just so special and something you never want to take for granted.”
The past couple weeks, that process has changed for Minshew. He went from competing for the job and taking only part of the first team snaps, to taking control as the starter. And all that comes with that.
“Your role changes and being the starter, being a little more vocal, talking a little bit, getting everybody on the same page because that’s your role,” said Minshew. “I think that’s the biggest change.”
This is Minshew’s sixth season in the NFL. He has 37 starts under his belt, including the final 12 games of last season as the starter in Indianapolis. So, he has some experience battling for his job as well as experience taking over the reins of an NFL team. While Pierce noticed the change in Minshew from who he was when he was competing for the job to the more vocal leader he has been since taking on the starting job.
“I think when you’re battling in the quarterback position, you’ve got two guys there that were splitting time of who’s talking, who’s leading the pack,” Pierce said. “This is Gardner’s show. He’s running the show.”