Fans have been chomping at the bit to see young Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza roll with the first-team offense at training camp. After proving he was up to the task with the second group, Raider Nation has waited for the team's reported plan to mix him in with the 1s to materialize.
But for the first week and a half of summer practices, veteran Kirk Cousins has taken all of the reps. That is, until he got into a scuffle with star defensive end Maxx Crosby during Friday's session, which head coach Klint Kubiak didn't like. In fact, he held both players out of the team period on Saturday.
That meant that, by default, Mendoza was set to take the first-team reps. And the young signal-caller wasn't perfect, but he made the most of his opportunity with Cousins sidelined and did enough good things to make the plot thicken even more in the quarterback room ahead of Week 1.
Let's take a look at how Mendoza performed with the top veteran group.
Raiders' Fernando Mendoza takes full advantage of first-team reps in Kirk Cousins' absence
It can be difficult for a young player, who is already adjusting to the NFL level with the second unit, to be thrown into the fire of the top veteran group without any reps. But after a slow start, Mendoza really kicked it into high gear and did some good things for the Raiders.
The Athletic's Sam Warren stated simply that Mendoza "started a bit slow but got better as practice progressed," and that he "had a few TDs in red zone, goal line drill." A slow start is fairly expected, but to turn things around that quickly and to start grilling the first-team defense is incredible.
Mendoza wasted no time connecting with the team's top passing game targets, Brock Bowers and Tre Tucker, tossing a touchdown to each. He also scrambled and found Michael Mayer for a score at one point during live drills as well, so Mendoza was spreading the ball around quite well.
To add more detail, ESPN's Ryan McFadden noted that Mendoza had a couple of off-target throws and an issue with two snaps, but other than that, he shined. His touchdown to Tucker was dubbed his "best throw of camp," as he threaded it over Taron Johnson's head in the corner of the end zone.
He also completed five straight passes during the two-minute drill portion of practice to set up a field goal for Las Vegas. Reporter Jesse Merrick said that Mendoza made some really good tight window throws and seems to trust his arm, but also made safe throws. He didn't uncork any, but was solid.
Even more important is the fact that Mendoza is working through his progressions, making smart decisions, taking care of the ball and improving on the procedural stuff at the line of scrimmage. All of that is critical for a young quarterback to earn trust and get on the field in the early going.
Obviously, Mendoza wasn't perfect, but this was a tremendous step for the young quarterback to take. Progress is the name of the game for him, and he clearly made a leap. Now, for him, it will be about stacking days and looking even better when he is given another shot with the 1s.
Reporters and QB coach Mike Sullivan rave about Fernando Mendoza's first day with Raiders' 1s
In an overarching sense, the vibes around Mendoza were high on Saturday. One reporter said that he had "one of his best days at camp so far," and another said that Mendoza "did not disappoint, whatsoever. Looked comfortable, anticipatory, accurate and in charge."
Quarterback coach Mike Sullivan saw what the media did, too, apparently. When talking to reporters, Sullivan was asked about the No. 1 overall pick in a myriad of ways, of course, and the veteran leader let the praise flow. He said the following about where he's seen Mendoza improve most thus far.
"If I had to pick one area, I think it's just an overall comfort and confidence and command in the operation," Sullivan said. "In general, in college, there's not very many teams huddled. There's not a lot of cadence operation at the line of scrimmage. A lot of things are called into the headset. The visual and verbal communication that he's made, certainly, the ability to play under center and take snaps from under center, those are things that we've seen him improve upon, and he's going to continue to work on. We want to still get him to be even better, but we're real pleased with where he's at right now."
Sullivan also said the following about what he is evaluating beyond simple completions and decision-making when a young quarterback like Mendoza finally gets his first crack to run the first-team offense at training camp.
"The first thing you'd want to look at is the poise. Is there anything that seems to rattle him? If something goes bad, does it start to kind of spiral into more bad things? Does he have a good command, a sense of confidence about what he's going through?" Sullivan asked. "And really just trusting his training and not trying to put extra pressure on himself. It's the same concepts, it's the same plays, just a little bit faster guys that he's going against. And so, that's probably the main thing, is to see what type of approach from a mental standpoint. Because if mentally he starts to get flustered, or gets panicked or frustrated, that's going to reflect in his physical play. That's probably the main thing that we want to take a look at."
It's a good thing, then, that Mendoza didn't get rattled. That he didn't let a few early mistakes spiral into more bad things. That he was praised for his command and confidence.
All in all, this was a massive step for Mendoza to take, and a pivotal one so early in his career. He didn't cower in the moment; he rose to the occasion. If Mendoza keeps putting together showings like this, he is going to give Kubiak and the staff more to consider in this ongoing quarterback battle.
But Sullivan and the Raiders' staff aren't anointing Mendoza yet. Nobody expected them to, and this group of coaches gives off the vibe that maybe they never will. Here's what Sullivan had to say when asked about what stood out from Mendoza's first day with the 1s.
"Fernando, he needs to improve. And the thing I think we're very pleased about is from the spring to the start of camp, there were some parts of his game we wanted him to improve upon and he has. As we added different layers and dimensions, the crowd noise, the silent counts, so forth, he's not repeating mistakes, which is always a good thing. It's a process, it's a long process. We're pleased with how he's developing."
Complacency isn't allowed, so Mendoza needs to keep growing. He isn't there yet. But Las Vegas is still a work in progress as well, so Kubiak and his fellow coaches need to keep scanning for ways to get better as well. And one may be presenting himself to them right now in the form of Mendoza.
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