Sportsnaut
While Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak hasn’t made an official announcement regarding Kirk Cousins being selected as the Raiders’ starting quarterback for 2026, Fernando Mendoza, the NFL’s top draft pick, said as much to the media after Tuesday’s mandatory minicamp practice in Henderson.
Mendoza shared he is practicing mostly with the second and third strings, while Cousins leads the first-string offense during OTAs and minicamp. This is a clear indication of what the depth chart will be entering camp later this summer without the need for a formal declaration in June.
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Kirk Cousins shared his thoughts on the quarterback room and the current situation, illustrating why, as an experienced player, he is well-suited to support the rookie quarterback. But don’t call him a mentor, per se.
“I think to say I’m mentoring them is a bit of a reach, probably more of a narrative than it is the truth, in the sense that they’re pretty good players and pretty experienced, and I’m learning a lot from them too and asking questions of them,” Cousins said. “Nobody’s leading more than someone else. I think we’re all just kind of a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective, giving another set of eyes…”
Not only does Cousins seem to be in a great spot mentally as a Raider, but he’s also feeling better physically than he has since he was a Minnesota Viking. In his last season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023, he tore his Achilles tendon and then signed with the Atlanta Falcons. When asked about his current health and where he’s at physically since the Raiders last faced him in Atlanta, Cousins was giddy to report that he’s feeling spry.
“Yeah. I definitely think every day, week, month, there’s been progress since I first tore my Achilles, and it’s been a progression, and I just keep learning more, keep getting better,” Cousins said. “And so, in that sense, I do feel healthier now than I did then, and I’m optimistic that that’ll help me on the field, but we’ll see where it goes.”
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When Cousins joined the Atlanta team two years ago, he reached out to Peyton Manning early on for some advice. Manning had already gone through what Cousins was about to experience: joining a new team later in his career and navigating his role without causing disruptions.
The Peyton Manning anecdote resonated with me after Tuesday. According to Cousins, Manning initially advised him to stay quiet. Rather than coming in with strong opinions on how things should be done, observe, ask questions, and seize the opportunity to lead closer to the end of training camp. Cousins shared that he has been following this approach during OTAs, even though he admitted...
