Tag: Desmond Ridder

Desmond Ridder says he is ready to go if called upon to start for Raiders

Should Aidan O’Connell be unable to return, Desmond Ridder could be the Raiders starting QB week 13 vs the Chiefs. He says he’s ready.

Late in the Raiders’ week 12 game against the Broncos, Gardner Minshew went down hard and was taken to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury. He was replaced at quarterback by Desmond Ridder.

With the revelation that Minshew is lost for the season with a broken collarbone, Ridder would seem to have a legitimate chance to be the starter when the Raiders face the Chiefs next Friday. An opportunity Ridder says he’s ready for.

“Yeah, I feel I’m ready to play,” said Ridder after the game Sunday. “I’ve been here almost a month now. I feel comfortable with the offense. I’m ready to go, so whatever the situation may be, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the higher power, but I’m ready for any situation may be.”

His head coach seems to feel a bit differently about 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 did some stuff in seven-on-sevens, but to sit there and say we’ve seen enough? No. We’ve seen film, he’s played in this league and obviously today was tough. Sitting on the bench the last 55 minutes and now you’re throwing him in the ball game, but he did the best he could.”

Ridder came into the game late in the fourth quarter and on his second play had a rusher come around the left edge to hit his arm as he threw, forcing a fumble the Broncos recovered in scoring range.

He then faced a soft Broncos defense and was able to drive down the field before ultimately getting sacked in goal to go from the one. He plans to be ready to step in as the starter if called upon just as he would at a moment’s notice during a game.

“You try to do as much as you can to stay warm, whether that’s in the first half coming in here getting a stretch or in half time, hopping on the bike around the third quarter and throwing in between every drop,” Ridder added. “So really it’s just being ready to go. And I’m always ready to go. I’ll make sure I’m never not ready to go in that situation.”

Former starter Aidan O’Connell is eligible to return from injured reserve this week and if he’s ready to go, he figures to be the most likely to reclaim his starting job. But if he’s not, then Ridder will have to get up to speed with his teammates in three days time to face the best team in the NFL in their house at Arrowhead.

Falcons may see familiar face at QB during prime-time game vs Raiders

Falcons may see familiar face at QB for the Raiders during Monday Night Football matchup in Week 15

The Atlanta Falcons may see a familiar face when they play against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. Former Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder took over for an injured Gardner Minshew late in the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ 29-19 loss to the Denver Broncos.

Ridder completed five out of 10 pass attempts for 64 yards, losing a fumble and taking a sack in the red zone to end the game. While he got off to a slow start, Ridder led a nice drive on his second attempt and nearly threw a touchdown pass after evading a sack.

The catch was ruled short of the end zone and Ridder took a sack on the next play to end the game. According to a report from NFL Network, Minshew has a broken collarbone and will be out for the rest of the season.

The Falcons play the Raiders on Monday night football in Week 15, and Ridder is the only healthy quarterback on the roster for Las Vegas at the moment.

The former Falcons third-round pick was traded to Arizona over the offseason and later poached off the Cardinals’ practice squad by the Raiders when Aidan O’Connell broke his thumb.

Ridder appeared in 19 games (17 starts) during his two seasons in Atlanta, passing for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

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Raiders QB Gardner Minshew lost for season, who starts in his place?

Raiders QB Gardner Minshew has a shoulder injury. Here are the latest updates.

Late in the fourth quarter of the Raiders week 12 game against the Broncos, Gardner Minshew ran out right and was tackled hard. He was slow to get up and when he did was holding his left arm and taken straight to the locker room.

QB Gardner Minshew injury update

Following the game, head coach Antonio Pierce said Minshew had a left shoulder injury and that “It doesn’t look good.”

How long will Gardner Minshew be out?

According to multiple reports, X-rays reveal a broken collarbone which means Minshew is out for the rest of the season.

Raiders QB depth chart

Desmond Ridder came in for Minshew in the fourth quarter, playing the remainder of the game.

Ridder has been with the team for about a month. I asked Antonio Pierce if he’d seen enough from Ridder to have him in the mix, and he said quickly no. Adding that Ridder hasn’t had nearly enough reps either in practice or in games to be handed the job on a short week.

“It’s not enough reps,” Pierce said. “When Gardner was in there we gave him all the reps. He did some stuff in seven-on-sevens, but to sit there and say we’ve seen enough? No. We’ve seen film, he’s played in this league and obviously today was tough. Sitting on the bench the last 55 minutes and now you’re throwing him in the ball game, but he did the best he could.”

Aidan O’Connell is eligible to return from partial season injured reserve this week and, if he’s indeed ready to return, he is expected to step back into the starting job. It would certainly be good timing for his return. Ridder would back him up.

Raiders still living week-to-week at QB heading into Week 12

While Antonio Pierce named Gardner Minshew the starter for week 12 vs the Broncos, he wouldn’t commit to anything past that.

As the Raiders head for their week 12 matchup with the Broncos, they are sticking with Gardner Minshew. And past that, who really knows.

Monday head coach Antonio Pierce was asked if he believes Gardner Minshew is the best option at quarterback for the team moving forward, he chose his words carefully.

“He’ll be the quarterback this week,” said Pierce.

That’s something, at least, considering several times this season Pierce was completely non-committal on Monday as to who the team would start the following week. And one of those times, he switched quarterbacks with Minshew being benched. It was only because of the injury to Aidan O’Connell that Minshew regained his starting job.

The competition now is between Minshew and Desmond Ridder who the team signed off the Cardinals practice squad a few weeks ago. Minshew was benched midway through the game in Cincinnati in favor of Ridder only to have Minshew return to the starting lineup out of the bye week and with a shakeup on the offensive staff.

Raiders sticking with Gardner Minshew as starting quarterback

Antonio Pierce has named the Raiders starting QB coming out of the bye. He’s sticking with Gardner Minshew over challenger Desmond Ridder

The Raiders are back at practice Wednesday, getting ready for their Week 11 matchup with the Dolphins. The last time the Raiders stepped on a field was in Cincinnati before the bye week when they suffered their fifth straight loss. That led to the firing of several offensive coaches and Antonio Pierce considering making (another) change at quarterback.

The decision was between Gardner Minshew and newcomer Desmond Ridder. Minshew had been benched in the third quarter of the blowout loss to the Bengals, and after the game Pierce said they would take the bye week to decide who would start Week 11.

Wednesday, Pierce named Minshew as the team’s starter.

“He gives us the best opportunity going forward,” Pierce said of Minshew. “And he has every opportunity to go out there and help us get to a win.

“It starts with the staff, it starts with me, it starts with a belief. Go out there and let it go. Let it loose. What do we got to lose at this point? Right? 2-7, so everything that’s behind us is behind us and I’m looking forward to everything in front of me.”

“Let it loose” is a different message than Minshew had been receiving. Pierce made it known even from the moment Minshew was named the starter to begin the season that he was on a short leash. Then all along the way he continued to blame turnovers for the issues with the offense. That was until he finally seemed to see what most on the outside had been seeing and that was the playcalling and scheme were the primary issue, leading to the firing of Luke Getsy.

That’s not to say Getsy was the one and only problem. Minshew has had plenty of issues. They seemed like equal parts his own deficiencies as a QB, fearing he would be benched if he made a mistake, and not being a fit for whatever Getsy’s idea of an offense was.

Pierce is right though; what do they have to lose at this point? That’s the mindset they seemed to take on when he took over last season. Playing like they have nothing to lose probably gives them the best chance to win. Walking on eggshells certainly hasn’t been working for them.

Antonio Pierce won’t commit to Raiders starting QB heading into bye week

Is Gardner Minshew still the Raiders starting QB or will he be replaced by Desmond Ridder? Antonio Pierce isn’t ready to make that decision.

Here we go again. Back to the Raiders being in limbo at the QB position. In the third quarter of Sunday’s game, looking at a 31-10 deficit, the Raiders pulled starter Gardner Minshew in favor of Desmond Ridder.

At the time, you could write it off as the Raiders just being down three scores and just pulling their starter. But if that were the case, Monday morning you’d expect to hear the head coach commit to Minshew as the starter. He didn’t do that.

“I’m using the bye week to look at everything.” Pierce said in response to a question about the team’s starting quarterback.

This controversy at the QB position has been going on almost weekly dating back to the beginning of the offseason.

First it was Aidan O’Connell taking all the first team reps. Then by minicamp, Minshew started getting some first team reps. By camp they shared first team reps equally. It wasn’t until two weeks prior to the start of the season that Pierce named Minshew the starter. And even then, he made it clear he wasn’t confident in his choice, saying he would give Minshew the first quarter of the season and re-evaluate at that time.

Just a week after Minshew led a come-from-behind win in Baltimore, struggles at home against the Panthers had Pierce putting in O’Connell late in the game and already waffling on Minshew as the starter.

Two weeks later, he made the switch, benching Minshew in favor of O’Connell. Then in just his second start, O’Connell left with a thumb injury and Minshew was back in as the starter.

The next day the team signed Desmond Ridder off the Cardinals practice squad and Sunday, after just two weeks with the team, he was in the game for Minshew.

Now, Pierce is saying he is using the coming week to decide whether Ridder will be the team’s starter or not. And you can bet, even if Ridder isn’t named the starter this week, the question will come up every single week if Minshew struggles.

Former Falcons QB Desmond Ridder finds new NFL home

Former Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder has found a new NFL home…

It’s been a tough year for former Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder. After an underwhelming 2023 campaign as Atlanta’s starting QB, Ridder was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for wide receiver Rondale Moore during the offseason.

The former third-round pick was released by the Cardinals at the 53-man roster deadline and later signed to Arizona’s practice squad. Ridder has yet to appear in a regular-season game this season but he may finally be getting another chance.

On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Ridder to replace injured quarterback Aidan O’Connell. With Gardner Minshew struggling, Ridder could get some reps down the stretch for a Raiders team that’s last in the AFC West.

Ridder got emotional when asked about getting another chance in the NFL, citing his motivation to succeed for his family.

“I was just cut three months ago,” said Ridder. “That should be enough opportunity, enough motivation to keep me going any time. Back home, I got the call and everything. My daughter was like ‘Daddy, where are you going?’ I’m like, gotta go to Vegas. I know I do everything for them. I do everything for my family so it’s just another opportunity to go out and prove to them, prove to myself, prove to everyone that I can be out here and go do this.”

Ridder appeared in 19 games during his two seasons in Atlanta, passing for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Falcons will face off against the Raiders in Week 15, so there’s a chance they could see Ridder this season.

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Raiders get help at wide receiver, signing former Panthers 2nd rounder

Some help has arrived with the Raiders signing former Panthers second rounder receiver Terrace Marshall to the practice squad.

This week, the Raiders are taking some drastic action at several position in their attempts to find some production on the offensive side of the ball.

Tuesday along with adding former Falcons starting QB Desmond Ridder off the Cardinals practice squad, they signed wide receiver Terrace Marshall to the practice squad.

Marshall was a round two pick by the Panthers in the 2021 draft out of LSU. He played three seasons in Carolina, appearing in 36 games with 16 starts.

The 6-2, 200-pounder has 64 career catches for 767 yards and one touchdown. His best season was in 2022 when he caught 28 passes for 490 yards (17.5 yards per catch) and a touchdown.

But after a down year, he was released in the final roster cuts last August. He caught on with the 49ers on their practice squad but was released again last week.

It wouldn’t take much for him to be worthy of a shot with the Raiders who have been struggling to field an even serviceable wide receiver corps since Davante Adams’ trade request and Jakobi Meyers’ ankle injury.

Raiders snag QB Desmond Ridder off Cardinals’ practice squad

The Raiders are signing Desmond Ridder off Arizona’s practice squad.

The Arizona Cardinals will need to find a new quarterback. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, quarterback Desmond Ridder is signing with the Las Vegas Raiders to their active roster.

Ridder has been on the Cardinals’ practice squad all season.

The third-year pro, a former third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons with 17 career starts, was acquired in the offseason in a trade for receiver Rondale Moore.

However, second-year quarterback Clayton Tune beat him out for the backup quarterback behind Kyler Murray in training camp and the preseason and Ridder was among the team’s final cuts before the season. He signed with the practice squad where he has been ever since.

But with the Raiders in a tough spot at quarterback, as Aidan McConnell got hurt, they are adding Ridder’s experience behind current starting quarterback Gardner Minshew.

In Ridder’s career, has 19 career games with 17 career starts. He has completed 64% of his passes and has thrown 14 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. He also has five career rushing touchdowns and is 8-9 in his 17 starts.

Expect the Cardinals to have another quarterback signed to the practice squad by Wednesday.

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Raiders add competition at quarterback, signing former Falcons starter

The Raiders have finally added some much needed competition to the quarterback room, signing former third round pick Desmond Ridder.

There’s a new arm in the Raiders quarterback room. It’s Desmond Ridder. The Raiders have signed the former third round pick off the Cardinals practice squad according to ESPN’s Tom Pelissero.

Ridder started 13 games last season for the Falcons, putting up 2836 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completed near 65% of his passes. He went 6-7 in those starts.

The Raiders didn’t just need the competition, they needed a body. It was revealed Monday morning that Aidan O’Connell was headed to injured reserve with a broken thumb, leaving just Gardner Minshew on the roster and undrafted rookie Carter Bradley on the practice squad.

Ridder earned his third round draft status by putting up big numbers at Cincinnati including 87 touchdowns over four seasons there.

With the Falcons addition of Kirk Cousins this offseason, they traded Ridder to the Cardinals. He was released with the final roster cuts and joined the practice squad.