HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — As Klint Kubiak oversees his first training camp as a head coach, he is faced with the daunting task of figuring out how to juggle going with Kirk Cousins as the Raiders' starting quarterback — for now — while getting the most out of overall No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza.
Kubiak made clear Tuesday that when Las Vegas takes the field early Wednesday for its first training camp practice that Cousins will run the first-team
offense.
But there also will be plenty of focus on Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who led Indiana to the national championship last season and whom so many fans have placed their hope that he is the long-awaited franchise quarterback. Mendoza operated the third-team offense in offseason practices behind Cousins and Aidan O'Connell, so the Raiders initially eased him into the lineup.
Now it comes down to performance.
“It’s important for me to be fair to the players and to put the best player out there,” Kubiak said. "When we go out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback. He’s the guy, and he’s going to get a ton of reps. He deserves them because he has played really good football, but I want Fernando and I want Aidan to push him.”
Kubiak and his coaches enter camp with a plan for how to navigate the quarterbacks' competition early, but they are ready to make adjustments depending on how it plays out.
“We have a starting point on where those reps want to be for the guys," Kubiak said. "We’re really thoughtful about how many reps each guy’s getting up against what defense. There’s going to be times where it moves and certain guys are with the twos, certain guys are with the threes. We’ll get the second guy with the ones. We have an early-on plan, but it’s always a moving target.”
Kubiak had said he expected star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who underwent knee surgery in January, to be ready to go once camp begins.
That is indeed the case.
“He’s ready to practice,” Kubiak said. "As practice unfolds and we’re watching our players, it’s always a moving target. But as of right now, tomorrow is a pretty short workday, hour and 30 minutes. So, we’re expecting (Crosby) to be ready to take all those reps.”
Crosby's surgery was to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee that caused him to miss the final two games last season.
He was traded to Baltimore in March only to have the Ravens nix the deal four days later over a failed physical, someone with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press at the time.
Crosby said in June he had moved on and was focused on playing for the Raiders.
The Raiders traded up a spot into the first selection of the fourth round of this year's draft to take cornerback Jermod McCoy.
He was thought to be a first-round talent before a torn ACL forced McCoy to miss all of last season at Tennessee.
Now McCoy will begin to show whether the Raiders' risk was a good one.
“The plan is to get him reps early and see how he responds in his recovery," Kubiak said. "It is a moving target with him. He’s a guy that’s worked extremely hard and has been dedicated to the program that we’ve put in front of him. Jermod hasn’t played football in a year, and we’re aware of that, but he’s ready to go practice tomorrow. We’re also going to be really smart with him and develop him the right way.”
Kubiak was hired in February after serving as offensive coordinator of Seattle's Super Bowl champions, and the 39-year-old hired some veteran assistants who can help his transition to running his own team.
He specifically mentioned Mike McCoy, Joe DeCamillis and Rick Dennison as coaches he could rely on.
“Those are guys that I lean on every day,” Kubiak said.
All the players, Kubiak said, are set to practice when camp opens.
He also said the conditioning tests were encouraging.
“Guys did a great job there, but playing football is a whole lot different than running 60 yards,” Kubiak said. “So we’ll find out who the most self-motivated people were.”
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