In his first NFL action, former South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley was limited to handing off in the Las Vegas Raiders’ preseason opener. In Las Vegas’ second preseason game, Bradley got to pass. And in the Raiders’ third preseason game, he’ll be the starting quarterback.

On Sunday, Las Vegas coach Antonio Pierce named Gardner Minshew as the winner of the starting-quarterback competition with Aidan O’Connell. Minshew joined the Raiders as a free agent in March after starting 13 games for the Indianapolis Colts in 2023. O’Connell started 10 games for Las Vegas last season as a fourth-round rookie.

Neither quarterback will play, Pierce said, when the Raiders wrap up their preseason schedule against the San Francisco 49ers at 9 p.m. CDT Friday.

“First game, all he did was hand the ball off nine times,” Pierce said about Bradley on Wednesday, “and we let him sling it last week. He did a good job again last night (at practice), so it’ll be good to see him in this first half sling it and see what he does in the third quarter as well.

“But I think he’s done a good job of growing. Like all rookies, you have your ups and downs. When you have a quarterback battle, there’s not a lot of reps there. There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for him, but he’ll have a good chance to show off in two nights.”

In Las Vegas’ 24-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 10, Bradley handed off nine times as the Raiders tried to sit on a two-point lead.

In Las Vegas’ 27-12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, Bradley completed 8-of-13 passes for 56 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had a 6-yard run.

The Raiders also have veteran quarterback Nathan Peterman on the roster. He joined the team on Aug. 13, and Las Vegas waived quarterback Anthony Brown three days later.

In two seasons at South Alabama, Bradley completed 496-of-751 passes for 5,995 yards with 47 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He joined Las Vegas as an undrafted rookie in May.

For players such as Bradley across the NFL, the final week of the preseason could determine if they have a future in the league. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, each NFL team must have its 90-player preseason roster reduced to a 53-man active roster for the regular season. Each team also will have a 16-player practice squad.

“I told these guys, they got a great opportunity for themselves competing for a roster spot, and really it’s not just for the Raiders,” Pierce said. “It’s for the entire National Football League because we know we’re not going to have everybody on our roster. There will be other opportunities on practice squad or other teams, so they’re competing in front of everybody, and this is a big week for them.”

The Alabama Game of the Week is the Cleveland Browns-Seattle Seahawks contest on Sunday night. Twenty players from Alabama high schools and colleges are on the teams’ active rosters in that game.

The complete Week 3 preseason schedule (with all times Central and point spreads from Catena):

Thursday

· Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals (-6.5), 7 p.m. (Prime Video)

· Chicago Bears (-1) at Kansas City Chiefs, 7:20 p.m. (NFL Network)

Friday

· Jacksonville Jaguars (-7) at Atlanta Falcons, 6 p.m. (WPMI 15.1, WBRC 6.1, WTBM 24.2, WAFF 48.3, WTVY 4.1, WTVY 4.2, NFL Network)

· Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3), 6:30 p.m. (WKRG 5.1, WMBB 13.1)

· San Francisco 49ers (-6.5) at Las Vegas Raiders, 9 p.m. (NFL Network)

Saturday

· Carolina Panthers (-4) at Buffalo Bills, noon

· Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5) at Detroit Lions, noon (NFL Network)

· Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers (-3), noon

· Los Angeles Rams at Houston Texans (-6.5), noon

· Minnesota Vikings (-1) at Philadelphia Eagles, noon

· Los Angeles Chargers at Dallas Cowboys (-3.5), 3 p.m. (NFL Network)

· New York Giants (-2.5) at New York Jets, 6:30 p.m. (NFL Network)

· Cleveland Browns (-1.5) at Seattle Seahawks, 9 p.m. (NFL Network)

Sunday

· Tennessee Titans (-3.5) at New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m. (WALA 10.1, WHNT 19.2, WHDF 15.1, NFL Network)

· Arizona Cardinals at Denver Broncos (-3.5), 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

· New England Patriots (-4) at Washington Commanders, 7 p.m. (NBC)

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.