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Aidan O’Connell receives injury update after exit vs. Los Angeles
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Aidan O’Connell is heading to Injured Reserve and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks for the Las Vegas Raiders after exiting Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
O’Connell suffered a fractured thumb on his throwing hand after taking a hit from a rushing defender. He exited the game after starting 6/10 for 52 yards.
#Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell is heading to Injured Reserve with a fractured thumb, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo following tests.
O’Connell, who had resumed starting before his injury, is out 4-6 weeks. He has a chance to return the season. pic.twitter.com/NKLByRwU8c
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 21, 2024
Here’s a look at the play he suffered his injury on.
Aidan O’Connell #raiders
Looks like his thumb gets caught on the defenders hand. Thumb injuries make it very difficult to grip/throw. We’ll see if he can return pic.twitter.com/fEvtvErWUf
— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) October 20, 2024
O’Connell has been good, not great for the Raiders since being taken in the 4th round of the 2023 NFL draft. He threw for 2,218 yards his rookie year and started this year with 455 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
His story is an unlikely one. O’Connell walked on at Purdue and became a star his junior year, posting back-to-back 3,000-yard seasons. He led the Boilers to a 9-4 record in 2021 and an 8-6 record in 2022.
The Raiders will now turn to Gardner Minshew, who really struggled in relief of O’Connell Sunday.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.