Raiders report: New QB says he ‘felt good’ in 2nd half against Bengals

CINCINNATI — Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said he was looking for a spark when he replaced starting quarterback Gardner Minshew with newcomer Desmond Ridder in the third quarter of Sunday’s 41-24 loss to the Bengals at Paycor Stadium.

The move did not ignite any sort of fire. Ridder experienced some of the same struggles Minshew and Aidan O’Connell had before him as the Raiders extended their losing streak to five games.

Ridder’s first two drives resulted in three-and-outs. His third stalled after the Raiders crossed midfield. He fumbled after being sacked on the first play of his fourth drive.

Ridder completed 11 of his 16 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in the loss. He was also sacked four times on 20 dropbacks.

“I felt good other than the hits,” Ridder said. “I came to the sideline and someone was like, ‘Oh, your first car crash in (a while).’ But it felt good to be out there. Didn’t end the first few drives the way I wanted, but obviously I was able to go out there and put a couple drives together and the (touchdown) feels good.”

Ridder started 13 games for the Falcons last season. The Raiders signed him off the Cardinals’ practice squad Oct. 22 after O’Connell fractured his right thumb.

Ridder, a former University of Cincinnati standout, got a warm welcome from the fans Sunday. He said he was happy to just be back on the field.

“That was nice, but it doesn’t matter where it’s at,” Ridder said. “It feels good to just be out there playing the game I love with the guys I work hard with every day. So any opportunity to get out there is a great day.”

Minshew, on the other hand, had to deal with the disappointment of not finishing a game he started for the third time this season.

“It’s frustrating,” said Minshew, who added he was “hurting,” but not injured.

Minshew was previously replaced by O’Connell in the Raiders’ losses to the Panthers and Broncos. He completed 10 of his 17 passes Sunday for 124 yards. He also was charged with a fumble after a poor handoff with wide receiver DJ Turner on a sweep.

“It was my fault,” Minshew said. “I didn’t give it to DJ where I need to. It was on me.”

Pierce said the Raiders will use their bye week to evaluate everything, including the starting quarterback.

“Probably what I thought,” Pierce said of Ridder’s performance. “We didn’t get to see that athleticism until late. You see him move around the pocket and you see the strong arm. Again, he’s (spent) 10 days in the building. I thought obviously he was competing and I told guys at the very end to just keep competing, fight and I thought they did it.”

Turf monster

Five Raiders players, including three offensive linemen, were forced to leave the game due to ankle injuries Sunday.

Cornerback Nate Hobbs was among the wounded. He said he didn’t think the Paycor Stadium playing surface was in the best condition.

“I don’t think the turf out there is any good,” Hobbs said. “They need to do something with that. I don’t know what the Bengals had going on, they might be used to it. But a lot of guys said they were slipping. My injury specifically wasn’t turf-related, but I know a lot of guys didn’t like the turf.”

Center Jackson Powers-Johnson was more diplomatic in his evaluation.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Powers-Johnson said. “It’s turf. I’m a small fish. Those are questions for bigger fish.”

No quit

Powers-Johnson offered a passionate defense of his team’s effort despite the lopsided score Sunday.

He was particularly pleased with the fact that the Raiders’ offensive line gutted things out to the end. The position group was down to just five players by the end of the game.

“I think the biggest thing that came out of this game was character,” Powers-Johnson said. “We could have rolled over with guys playing positions they haven’t played before and everything else. I know that wasn’t a great score on the scoreboard and it didn’t look pretty, but what I can tell you is there’s character. People could have given up, but we went out there and scored (on the last drive).”

Powers-Johnson believes the Raiders’ persistence should give the team hope moving forward.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of people calling for people’s heads, but what you see there, us trying to fight and score and not giving up? That’s what I’m going to take out of today,” he said. “We’ll look back at the film and try to be better, but we fought and didn’t give up. I’m positive of that and that stems from coach Pierce. We don’t give up. That’s what I’ll take into this bye week and we’ll roll with that.”

Not satisfied

Cornerback Jack Jones got his first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter when he returned an interception 29 yards to the end zone.

Jones showed a knack for making big plays last season, but he didn’t have as many highlights this year before pouncing on one of Burrow’s few mistakes of the game.

“It’s cool, but we didn’t get the dub,” Jones said. “I’m more focused on that. We have to do something to to get a win.”

Jones said the Raiders’ disappointment level is “through the roof.”

“That’s too many in a row,” he said. “We’ve been losing too much. That’s not cool to me, it’s not cool for anyone. We just have to take this bye week and try to figure it out.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.