Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza completed eight of 15 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns and an interception against the Houston Texans in his second preseason game. While plenty of people have their opinions on Mendoza’s performance, the only one that really matters is head coach Klint Kubiak’s.
After taking some time to review the film, Kubiak was asked about his quarterback’s outing during a press conference on Friday.
“I think if you sat in our quarterback meeting the night
before the game, listened to him go through his progressions and reads and adjustments, I was very impressed with how prepared he has made himself,” the coach said. “That whole quarterback room, led by [quarterbacks] Coach [Mike] Sullivan and [offensive coordinator] Andrew [Janocko], have done an excellent job of being prepared.
“I was pleased with watching the tape. I really like what he did on third down. We were only one of five on third down in the first half. However, we did drop the ball twice, and we threw one short of the sticks on third and long. He had really good ball placement on the first third down of the game with a guy in his face. So, in the critical downs, I thought he was playing his best. There are things that we must get corrected that will be addressed ASAP.”
Kubiak didn’t get into details about what “must get corrected”, but Mendoza’s pick-six is likely at the forefront of those conversations. The coach also mentioned that the quarterback’s cadence was the reason for the false start penalty on the second play of the game, which he “was not happy with”.
Next week is the final week of training camp and the last chance for the No. 1 pick to beat out Kirk Cousins for the starting quarterback job ahead of the Week 1 matchup versus the Miami Dolphins, as the Raiders gear up for their final preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday evening.
In Other Raiders Links:
- Raiders-Texans winners and losers: “A lot was made about [Treydan] Stukes getting off to a slow start in training camp, and he was pretty quiet in the Raiders’ first preseason game, too,” via S&BP. “However, the second-round pick had a much-needed strong performance against the Texans.”
- Underrated Raiders: “Last season, Nailor caught just 29 passes on 49 targets for 444 yards and four touchdowns,” SB Nation’s Doug Farrar wrote, “but the ratio of big plays to catches should be a precursor to future possibilities — especially since J.J. McCarthy made every receiver on the roster (including and especially Justin Jefferson) struggle to match their usual productivity.”
- Coach calls out wide receivers: “I learned a lot, that we have to get a lot better very fast,” Kubiak replied when asked about his wide receivers, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “We took a step backwards. That doesn’t mean we can’t go forward, but right now we are trying to find someone that is accountable and can help us on Sunday. Still looking.”
- Allegiant Stadium potential facelift: “The Las Vegas Stadium Authority is meeting on Thursday to vote on the Raiders’ request for $75 million to help fund a $158 million project that would create a new ‘front door’ to the stadium’s north entrance, according to a release,” via Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells.
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