Fernando Mendoza stood connected the sideline thrice past period astatine Allegiant Stadium arsenic backmost Kirk Cousins drove the Las Vegas Raiders to preseason people aft people aft score. The seasoned passer successful his 15th play played 3 drives full successful 3 exhibitions.
The rookie passer watched from the sideline — conscionable arsenic helium volition to commencement the regular season.
“Ruthlessly efficient,” Mendoza said aft the preseason finale, an 18-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, describing Cousins operationally.
“That’s thing I privation to exemplary and I privation the shot successful the extremity zone, oregon (to) assistance our squad enactment it done the uprights.”
It’s not limb talent, size oregon spot that person Cousins starting astatine 38, astir 3 years removed from a torn close Achilles — and with it the premier of his 15-year career. It’s the “ruthlessly efficient” mode with which he’s moving manager Klint Kubiak’s discourtesy that has this year’s No. 1 draught prime with a headset and a clipboard, astatine slightest for now. With Cousins owed to commencement Week 1 versus the Miami Dolphins astatine Allegiant Stadium, Mendoza volition beryllium the archetypal apical backmost draught prime since Baker Mayfield successful 2018 to beryllium Week 1 of his rookie campaign.
Playing a seasoned up of a rookie was erstwhile commonplace successful the NFL with immoderate of its greatest-ever passers being backups passim their rookie seasons. Accelerated improvement has first-year passers thriving, too, but the Raiders are bucking the modern inclination for the old-school attack with the Heisman Trophy winner. Cousins underscored it with a stellar grooming camp, befitting amid his experience.
Mendoza indispensable make successful the shadows for now.
Said wide manager John Spytek of Mendoza: “He’s a tireless worker. He loves football. He loves his teammates. He’s energetic connected the field. He’s self-critical. He’s self-aware. He’s precise accurate. His clip is coming, but he’s got to gain it each time and helium knows that. I deliberation we’re each precise pleased with the idiosyncratic and his enactment ethic and his committedness to being a large quarterback.”
A enactment oregon 2 later, Syptek denoted quarterbacks who sat arsenic rookies: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, Patrick Mahomes. He besides denoted a backmost who played that happened to beryllium a No. 2 wide pick: Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders.
The constituent Spytek was illustrating: There isn’t a tried-and-true approach.
Brady (seven-time Super Bowl champion, three-time NFL MVP) with the New England Patriots was a backup to Drew Bledsoe arsenic a sixth-round pick. Rodgers (Super Bowl champion, four-time MVP) was a precocious first-round prime by the Green Bay Packers backing up Brett Favre. Love, besides a precocious first-round pick, was 2 years a backup successful Green Bay to Rodgers. Mahomes (three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time MVP) was picked No. 10 wide to backmost up Alex Smith with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Other apical draught picks successful the modern epoch to commencement their rookie play connected the sideline see Smith (three-time Pro Bowler, down Tim Rattay arsenic a No. 1 wide pick) with the San Francisco 49ers, Carson Palmer (three-time Pro Bowler, down Jon Kitna arsenic a No. 1 wide pick) with the Cincinnati Bengals and Eli Manning (two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler, down Kurt Warner arsenic a No. 1 wide pick) with the New York Giants.
Then there’s Daniels, who quarterbacked Washington to 2 postseason wins to headdress a historical rookie campaign. Other apical draught picks who started arsenic a rookies see Peyton Manning (two-time Super Bowl champion, five-time MVP) with the Indianapolis Colts, Matthew Stafford (Super Bowl champion, MVP) with the Detroit Lions, Cam Newton (MVP, three-time Pro Bowler) with the Carolina Panthers and Joe Burrow (three-time Pro Bowler) with Cincinnati.
“There’s truthful galore examples some ways,” Kubiak said past week. “I deliberation the astir important happening with the backmost country oregon immoderate different presumption is to physique contention wrong the country and that makes players truthful overmuch better, faster than coaching. When they person a feline successful beforehand of them that they tin look up to and they tin spot however something’s done, that’s going to accelerate their growth.”
That’s wherefore the Raiders sought to motion Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowl honoree charting sixth among progressive passers successful yards (44,700), 5th successful touchdowns (298) and ninth successful passer standing (96.8). What helium mightiness not person successful limb spot and mobility, helium has successful veteran guile and know-how. Short of Mendoza outperforming him successful camp, helium was signed (and paid a full of $20 cardinal guaranteed) to start.
There’s plentifulness for Cousins to exemplary for Mendoza beyond dropbacks and completions, explained past period by Kubiak: “There’s truthful galore details pre-snap. Snap points. Getting extortion set. Communicating to your halfback who’s down you. Signaling to receivers earlier the shot snap. Cadence. On the sideline going into each series, going to each presumption and talking astir the plays that are coming and things that he’s looking for. And past each of a sudden, the full representation changes and making an accommodation connected the alert and getting everybody connected the aforesaid page. … And that’s what the champion quarterbacks do, that’s what they are, and that’s thing that a young QB similar Fernando volition support getting amended astatine with reps.”
Mendoza won’t get the dose of reps helium got past period with campy complete, but helium tin survey from the sideline and hole similar the starter. That’s what Cousins did successful his rookie play of 2012, but arsenic a fourth-round prime down chap rookie Robert Griffin III, the No. 2 pick. Ironically enough, Griffin starred his rookie season.
“You larn truthful overmuch astir however this league operates,” Cousins said aft the preseason finale, recalling the lessons helium learned connected the sideline. “How the play operates. How defenses play you successful situational football. How you hole for the crippled each week. How you retrieve from a game. What it takes to truly ain a crippled program implicit the people of six days. To truly get it locked in. … I’ve seen it a batch of antithetic ways and I deliberation it’s each astir the agelong game. Winning the agelong crippled and that’s what I deliberation we each privation to do.”
Contact Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected X.
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