Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza acquitted himself well in his preseason debut, completing 10-of-16 passes for 97 yards with a touchdown in his 31 offensive snaps.
Head coach Klint Kubiak has been consistent in saying that Kirk Cousins is the team’s starting quarterback. But did Mendoza make enough of an impression to earn some more first-team reps?
“We’re going to put a plan together this week and that’s something that we’re talking about as a coaching staff right now,” Kubiak said in his Friday video conference. “But, whether it’s Aidan O’Connell, Kirk, or Fernando — I would say all three of those guys deserve first-team reps. But we’ve got to go put a plan together on how we’re going to split them up.”
Generally, Kubiak said he liked what he saw from Mendoza last night, even as the quarterback was self-critical postgame.
“The best quarterbacks I’ve been around are the ones who are hard on themselves,” Kubiak said. “They put the finger on them before they put it on their teammates. I think he played good football last night and is going to continue to get better.
“I think the thing that stood out for me again is we put a lot on his plate and all the quarterbacks’ plates getting read for this preseason game, and he went out and executed the way that he does in practice,” Kubiak added. “Some guys, they get to the game and things change on them. It moves fast and they freak out. He was the opposite. He was very calm, he was getting the calls in, he was seeing coverage well. I like the way that he moved in the pocket, got outside, and extended some plays. So, I think that Fernando has had a really good week of practice and the things that he did in the game are things I’ve seen him do in practice. He’s consistent. That consistency from the position is important. I didn’t see any gameday surprises just because the moment was a little bit big. He was the same guy.”
The Raiders will be in Houston for a joint practice with the Texans next week before the two teams play each other on Thursday night.