Raiders first-year head coach Klint Kubiak has said that his team’s starting quarterback position is Kirk Cousins’ to lose.
But even after this week’s joint practice and preseason game with the Texans, he’s still not ready to name Cousins the Week 1 starter.
While some of that may have to do with the progress displayed by No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, Kubiak said in his Friday press conference that it’s more about his general philosophy.
“I just don’t think it ever benefits a player to know that they have a spot secured,” Kubiak said. “If there’s always a little bit of uneasiness about that, that benefits the whole team — the player and the team.”
Cousins did not play on Thursday night after going through the joint practice in Houston earlier in the week. Mendoza had an up-and-down night playing the entire first half, finishing 8-of-15 for 86 yards with no touchdowns and a pick six.
Kubiak said he was pleased with the rookie when watching the tape.
“I really liked what he did on third down,” Kubiak said. “We were only 1-of-5 on third down in the first half. However, we did drop the ball twice, and we threw one short of the sticks on third-and-long. He had really good ball placement on the first third down of the game, with a guy in his face. So, on the critical downs, I thought he was playing his best.
“There are things that we must get corrected that will be addressed ASAP.”
What Mendoza needs most now, Kubiak said, is reps. But those are going to be a lot harder to come by in the regular season if Mendoza is not the starting quarterback — which, at this point, he is not slated to be.
Kubiak admitted that’s a challenging factor in Mendoza’s development.
“We have experience as coaches on developing guys when they’re not starting a game, if they don’t start a game,” Kubiak said. “So, it’s [arriving] early, leaving late. It’s using some technological tools at your disposal. But it’s really a lot of [QBs] coach [Mike] Sullivan spending some early mornings and long nights with Fernando and Aiden [O’Connell]. And then you can build in young-guy reps into your practices.
“There’s things you can do. It’s never as good as getting all the reps in practice. But you do the best you can with what you’ve got.”
Las Vegas will host San Francisco next Thursday for the clubs’ final preseason contest.
Leave a Comment