Klint Kubiak gives another non-answer on the Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 1 starter
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Klint Kubiak declined for a third straight week to name a starting quarterback, speaking after the Las Vegas Raiders’ 18-12 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday at Allegiant Stadium.
“I still don’t think we need to name anybody,” Kubiak said. “We have a lot to talk about at a lot of positions, so we want to watch the film and talk about everything as a staff.”
Kirk Cousins made his second start of the preseason and went eight of 11 for 51 yards against a San Francisco defense that opened with its second unit, setting up a pair of Matt Gay field goals. Fernando Mendoza came in with 56 seconds left in the first quarter and threw an interception on his second play, when a pass over the middle bounced off wide receiver Jalen Nailor’s hands and into the arms of linebacker Tatum Bethune. Kubiak said Nailor should have caught the ball. Mendoza finished 7 of 14 for 57 yards with a passer rating of 31, took two sacks and was pressured six more times.
Cousins opened with the first team, Mendoza followed him in and Aidan O’Connell closed the game, which is the order teams use once the regular season starts. The snap counts have already drawn the depth chart Kubiak will not say out loud.
When do the Raiders actually turn to Fernando Mendoza?
Kubiak named Cousins the starter on the first day of training camp on July 28.
“When we go out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback,” Kubiak said. “He’s the guy, and he’s going to get a ton of reps. He deserves them because he’s played really good football. But I want Fernando and I want Aidan to push him.”
Kubiak took the same position in March, weeks before the Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Mendoza. “Ideally, you don’t want him to start from day one,” he told the Associated Press. “You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world. It doesn’t always work out that way.”
Mendoza has thrown two interceptions this preseason, the first a pick-six on his opening drive at Houston last week, where he went 8 of 15 for 86 yards.
“I came away with that there’s a lot of more learning to do, and that, although I maybe had a lot of success at another level, that this level’s a whole step further,” Mendoza said, “and that the margins are so small and that, you know, one tight mistake can lead to catastrophe.”
“Naming something one day could change the next,” Cousins said. “You just go about your business each day, methodically, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Las Vegas opens against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium.
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