Just like that, the 2025 NFL preseason is in the books. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders will be looking to put a rough stretch behind them, as they went winless with an 0-2-1 record.
Not only that, but they saw one of their key reserves suffer an injury in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals. Backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell suffered a fractured wrist in the loss, leading to a projected absence of six-to-eight weeks.
Naturally, that leaves the Silver and Black needing a new backup for Geno Smith. Is rookie Cam Miller ready to step up? Head coach Pete Carroll was asked that on Saturday night.
Pete Carroll Explains Whether Cam Miller Is Ready for Backup Role
Carroll’s two words should tell you everything you need to know, if you’re a Raiders fan.
“We’ll see,” Carroll said.
He added that he needs to reflect on Miller’s preseason performance.
“Let’s see what happens here. I’ve got to check the film.”
Carroll does believe that the playing time Miller got will be beneficial for him. The sixth-round pick logged plenty of snaps throughout the Raiders’ three-game preseason stretch.
“Well, you’ve got two (quarterbacks) instead of three,” Carroll said. “It’s going to be 6-8 weeks, or something like that, so he’s going to be out a while. We’ve just got to see what we can do and keep developing Cam. Fortunately, he got a lot of playing time tonight, and that’ll help him.”
The returns on those snaps were mixed. In all, Miller completed 20 of his 37 pass attempts and threw for 203 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also added 4 yards on the ground. His debut skewed that production, however. On August 7 against the Seattle Seahawks, the North Dakota State product went 6-for-7 with 76 yards and a score.
Despite there being some buzz about Miller potentially having starting upside, that ceiling is going to take a while to hit. He likely isn’t ready to back up Smith and perhaps enter a regular-season game at this moment.
Raiders Shouldn’t Have a Difficult Time Finding a New No. 2 Quarterback
Fortunately for the Raiders, there are some options. One of them is to simply cross their fingers and roll with the group they have. Smith is tough as nails and despite his advanced age for a signal-caller (35 in October), he’s missed just two games in the last three seasons. He’s durable and a reliable player. Las Vegas could merely wait out O’Connell’s injury rehab and hope Miller never has to play a snap.
Option No. 2 is scraping the barrel that is roster cuts. By 4:00 p.m. ET on August 26, all 32 teams must trim their rosters from 90 players to 53. There will be numerous field generals among those groups, which may appeal to the Raiders. If not, they could always poach someone from a practice squad and add them to the active roster.
Last, but certainly not least, is the trade market. Teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles have already been busy on that front, as evidenced by the Sunday swap of Sam Howell. Opposing teams would possibly pounce at the chance to capitalize on the Raiders’ misfortune. Acquiring a more proven backup than Miller could make some sense.
Either way, there are avenues to help offset the O’Connell injury. The first one, judging by Carroll’s comments, doesn’t appear to be the preferred one.
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