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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders are sticking with Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback, coach Antonio Pierce announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes as Raiders return from their bye week and despite Minshew’s recent benching and his 12 turnovers, second most in the NFL.
The Raiders play at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
“Listen, when we brought in Gardner, we expected, obviously, the play that we had seen in the past and at some point, you’ve got to give a guy confidence,” Pierce said. “And there’s been times, obviously, with turnovers and other things that have taken place, where we made decisions to either put him on the bench or go to another quarterback.
“But this week I felt like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to move forward and he has every opportunity to go out there and help us get to a win.”
Minshew, signed to a two-year, $25 million free agent contract with $15 million guaranteed this offseason, won a training camp battle with Aidan O’Connell but was benched in favor of O’Connell after a Week 5 loss at the Denver Broncos.
Minshew then reassumed the role after O’Connell broke the thumb on his right (passing) hand in his second start before being benched in the second half of the Raiders’ most recent loss, at the Cincinnati Bengals, in favor of recently signed Desmond Ridder.
The Raiders are 2-7, have the worst rushing offense in the NFL and are coming off firing offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello. Scott Turner was elevated to interim O-coordinator from pass game coordinator and the Raiders also made Joe Philbin the interim offensive line coach and hired Norv Turner, Scott’s father, as senior adviser.
“I’m not going to make no promises, but I just wanted a change, wanted a spark, wanted different ideas,” Pierce said. “Bringing in Norv, somebody from the outside, obviously he’s been watching our games, lot of respect for Norv.
“He coached against me as a player. As I got into coaching, [I was] watching him from afar and then obviously being with Scott the last couple of years. So, getting some more ideas, some outside ideas, different perspectives, game-planning, how to attack the weakest link, how to get our players in the best position to be successful, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Pierce was asked how the Raiders can instill confidence in Minshew, who has thrown eight interceptions and lost four fumbles while completing 67.0% of his passes and throwing for 1,501 yards and six touchdowns in eight games (seven starts).
“Everybody around him,” Pierce said. “It starts with the staff, starts with myself, starts with belief, letting him know, man, go out there and let it go, let it loose.
“And what do we got to lose at this point, right? [We’re] 2-7. So, everything that’s behind us is behind us and I’m looking forward to everything in front of me.”
Minshew trails only Sam Darnold (13) in turnovers, and per ESPN Research, Minshew’s 1.5 turnovers per game are tied with Anthony Richardson for the second most in the NFL, behind only Will Levis (1.7) among players to appear in at least five games. Pierce said the Raiders needed the bye week.
“Needed to take a good cold shower, cold bath, wash all that badness off that took place over the nine games and I think our staff did the same,” Pierce said. “I know our players did, but they were still around the building, which is the best thing about it, right?
“People might question our locker room, might question our culture, might question me, but you can’t question our commitment. We’re committed to this bad boy and turning it around.”
The Raiders also announced tight end Michael Mayer had returned to practice after being placed on the non-football illness list on Oct. 11. He had been gone from the team for personal reasons since Sept. 25.
“Excited, man, it was good to see Big Mike back,” Pierce said. “He looked good, had a little tan, so I don’t know where he was at, but he was hanging out. He was in shape. He stayed out here this entire bye week working out, getting himself back into football shape.
“When we got together yesterday, everybody was excited. You heard a lot of knocking, but at the end, just business as usual. That’s what Mike’s about — business.”