{"id":143616,"date":"2026-08-21T08:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/kirk-cousins-or-fernando-mendoza-las-vegas-raiders-surprisingly-decline-to-name-regular-season-starting-qb-143616"},"modified":"2026-08-21T08:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:10:23","slug":"kirk-cousins-or-fernando-mendoza-las-vegas-raiders-surprisingly-decline-to-name-regular-season-starting-qb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/kirk-cousins-or-fernando-mendoza-las-vegas-raiders-surprisingly-decline-to-name-regular-season-starting-qb-143616","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza? Las Vegas Raiders surprisingly decline to name regular-season starting QB"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> coach Klint Kubiak is either playing some sort of mind game or he sincerely is torn about naming a starting quarterback to open the regular season.<\/p>\n

That’s the only way to view this after the coach on Thursday night (actually Friday morning) declined to say what everyone assumes \u2014 that Kirk Cousins<\/a> is the Las Vegas starter to open the season against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

“You know, we got another week playing,” Kubiak told reporters after his team’s preseason game against the Houston Texans. “I don’t want anyone to be comfortable in their job.<\/p>\n

“It should always be that way from all positions. So, you know, we’ll just keep going forward.”<\/p>\n

FERNANDO MENDOZA THROWS PICK SIX IN SECOND NFL GAME<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Raiders are heading toward their preseason finale next Thursday without naming a starting quarterback for the regular season. Kubiak apparently wants to keep Cousins and rookie Fernando Mendoza<\/a> guessing about their status on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

HOW KIRK COUSINS AND FERNANDO MENDOZA ARE BUILDING ‘GREAT’ RELATIONSHIP THROUGH RAIDERS WORK, FAITH AND MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And the entire rest of the Earth is thinking, “Really, coach?”<\/p>\n

Just last week, Kubiak made it seem like Cousins was the leader in the proverbial clubhouse for the starting job.<\/p>\n

“I think he’s had a solid training camp and it’s his job to lose,” Kubiak said of Cousins.<\/p>\n

RAIDERS ROOKIE FERNANDO MENDOZA THANKS GOD FOR AN NFL DEBUT THAT COMPARES FAVORABLY TO ‘MR BRADY’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And one week later, when all Cousins did was watch from the sideline while Mendoza started and then gave way to third-stringer Aidan O’Connell in the second half, Kubiak’s changing course?<\/p>\n

What exactly did Cousins do to lose the job while not playing? Did he eat too much in the pregame meal?<\/p>\n

Kubiak himself said Cousins “did some good things” against the Texans in their joint practice on Tuesday. And, admittedly, Cousins did have a cringe moment when he threw a pick six in that practice.<\/p>\n

RAIDERS FRANCHISE THAT ONCE EMBRACED AN OUTLAW IMAGE NOW HAS ‘NO TURDS,’ COACH KLINT KUBIAK SAYS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But guess what?<\/p>\n

Mendoza threw a pick six in Thursday’s game against the same team’s backup players.<\/p>\n

“It was not a good throw,” Mendoza said of the pass that probably should have gone to the open receiver in the flat instead.<\/p>\n

Mendoza is undoubtedly going to be the Raiders starter at some point. He might even be the guy later this season. He was, after all, the team’s No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 draft.<\/p>\n

But team minority owner Tom Brady<\/a> has talked about the benefits of sitting as a rookie and learning behind an experienced veteran, which kind of worked for him.<\/p>\n

The Raiders signed Cousins to serve as the bridge starting quarterback while Mendoza grows and learns. And one valuable lesson apparently came against the Texans.<\/p>\n

“I came away with that there’s a lot of more learning to do,” Mendoza said. “And that, although I maybe had a lot of success at another level, that this level’s a whole step further, and that the margins are so small and that, you know, one tight mistake can lead to catastrophe.”<\/p>\n

Here’s a catastrophe in the making:<\/p>\n

A rookie NFL head coach could be playing mind games with players to keep them uncomfortable. That maybe used to work for Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.<\/p>\n

But when the obvious answer is to start Cousins and let Mendoza grow for a bit at the beginning of the regular season, this tactic by Kubiak seems phony.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/kirk-cousins-fernando-mendoza-las-vegas-raiders-decline-name-regular-season-starting-qb <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is either playing some sort of mind game or he sincerely is torn about naming a starting quarterback to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-143616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza? 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