All eyes were on Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza during Thursday's preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
Mendoza, the No. 1 pick from this year's draft, looked very sharp despite only getting four drives on Thursday night. The Heisman Trophy winner completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Even though Mendoza is incredibly talented, he's not listed as the top option on the depth chart. Raiders coach Klint Kubiak has already said Kirk Cousins is his Week 1 starter. The veteran signal-caller also looked efficient on Thursday, completing 5 of 6 pass attempts for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Following the Raiders' preseason opener, Kubiak once again confirmed that Cousins will be his starting quarterback until further notice.
"Kirk’s been getting the reps with the ones," Kubiak said. "I think he’s had a solid training camp and it’s his job to lose."
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
Fernando Mendoza is taking the right approach.
After making his preseason debut, Mendoza told reporters that his timing and anticipation needs to improve in order for him to be "the guy" in Vegas.
"It showed me that I need to grow a lot," Mendoza said, via ESPN. "... I'm definitely [watching the game film] after this. I have nothing else to do tonight."
The Raiders will be back in action next Thursday against the Houston Texans. We'll see if Mendoza continues to impress the NFL world.
