Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza will have to wait at least a while longer to make his first NFL start.
The Raiders decided before the start of the season to go with veteran Kirk Cousins as their starter and Mendoza as No. 2, and the depth chart will remain the same for the team’s Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Raiders Sticking With Their Veteran
Cousins led the Raiders to a win in Week 1, beating the Miami Dolphins to start the season 1-0. Cousins completed 70% of his passes in the win, throwing for 160 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, but completed only one pass over 10 yards.
The Raiders could be facing some pressure to play Mendoza if Cousins continued to struggle. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox named Cousins as the player under the most pressure in Week 2.
“Quarterback Kirk Cousins was mostly good in his Las Vegas Raiders debut,” Knox wrote. “However, while he threw three touchdown passes and helped deliver the win, he also struggled to push the ball deep (5.3 yards per attempt) and tossed a pair of picks.
“While Cousins’ performance was enough against a Miami Dolphins team that might be the worst in the league, Cousins has to be better moving forward for a couple of reasons. For starters, the Raiders aren’t likely to win games against playoff-caliber opponents if their QB can’t threaten vertically and take better care of the football.”
Raiders Want Fernando Mendoza to Develop Behind Kirk Cousins
The Raiders have expressed hope that Mendoza will continue learning the ropes behind the well-traveled veteran Cousins, and the rookie said he learned a lot during the team’s Week 1 win.
As The Athletic noted, Mendoza got to watch the efficient Cousins operate.
“How efficient you need to be to win,” Mendoza said of his biggest lesson from watching on the sidelines in Week 1. “The margin for error is smaller. It gets smaller from practice to the preseason to then the actual games. Windows are tighter. Everything is harder.”
The Athletic’s report noted that the Raiders have set up practice to allow Mendoza to walk through plays to learn footwork and progressions before Cousins leads the starters against the scout team.
The team skips these drills on game day to avoid giving away any information about plays, but Mendoza said he still gets plenty of lessons.
“It’s great to go from my self-visualization walkthroughs in practice to a game where I’m able to see a live-speed defense of the opponent,” Mendoza said. “Being able to visualize what I would do in that specific scenario is very important, whether it’s a certain look and I’m like, ‘OK, coach Sullivan, I’m thinking about going here or using this part of my progression in this play.’ Or sometimes we have a pure progression play where I’m seeing it as it goes and reacting. ‘Hey, the No. 1 wasn’t there. Oh, the No. 2 is there,’ and throw.”
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