Kirk Cousins was probably quite low on Las Vegas Raiders fans' lists of players that they thought would get into a training camp tussle with star defensive end Maxx Crosby. But lo and behold, the two scrapped last Friday and got suspended for the team periods and live portions of Saturday's session.
Of course, this opened the door for Fernando Mendoza to play with the 1s for the first time, and the rookie answered the call. Cousins, who should already have a short leash with a promising youngster looking over his shoulder, couldn't really afford to misstep after a less-than-perfect practice or two.
But the veteran signal-caller bounced back with a vengeance during Monday's padded practice after serving his suspension. He continues to stave off Mendoza at every turn in this ongoing quarterback battle, capturing the essence of why the Raiders signed him in the first place.
Kirk Cousins outperforms Fernando Mendoza again after suspension at Raiders training camp
Cousins, as he has been all throughout camp, was up-and-down before his spat with Crosby. During last Thursday's practice, he found Brock Bowers and Tre Tucker for deep touchdowns, which has been commonplace so far. Also commonplace in camp, however, have been ill-advised throws.
Even during his strong practice on Thursday, Cousins threw a risky ball to Malik Benson that was broken up by Eric Stokes, and on Friday, rookie Zeke Masses picked Cousins off in the end zone. Then, he threw another pick to Jeremy Chinn when Crosby now infamously hit his arm while throwing.
In the two-minute drill immediately after that altercation, though, Cousins was "surgical." After starting strong and taking some serious lumps in the middle, the veteran quarterback let the fight ignite a fire under him, and he dominated the Crosby-less Raiders defense afterward.
When he returned from his suspension on Monday, August 10, Cousins hadn't put the flame out. According to multiple reports, he had his best day of camp, sliding passes into tight windows to Bowers and Jalen Nailor, connecting on a deep strike and a dime in the red zone, respectively.
He did take a sack or two, but overall, Cousins showed great resilience, leadership and ability during this session, making highlight throws and failing to let the past struggles or frustrations drag into the present. That is what veteran quarterbacks do, and this is exactly what Mendoza needed to see.
The whole point of the Raiders signing Cousins was to show Mendoza the ropes, and the nearly-38-year-old is doing a great job of that. Has he been perfect? Certainly not. Is Cousins guaranteed to be the Week 1 starter? No. But he is providing a great example for Mendoza to follow.
And the experienced signal-caller is holding off the rookie at every turn. Just when fans start to think that Mendoza is gaining ground, Cousins comes right back with a strong performance. He is really pushing Mendoza and making him earn that starting nod, and the youngster hasn't quite yet.
During Monday's practice, while Cousins was dealing with the first-team offense, Mendoza was once again taking his lumps with the second team. He made another mistake, throwing in Greedy Vance's direction, as the sophomore slot corner picked off Mendoza for the second time in camp.
Mendoza also struggled throughout the morning, as ESPN's Ryan McFadden pointed out that even his best throw, a back-shoulder ball to Malik Benson, was called back due to him being sacked. Then, the interception was simply a bad read and throw, as Vance picked the ball off easily.
Although it wasn't all bad for Mendoza, as he played well during the second team period, he started 1-for-3 in the team red zone session and was a bit disjointed during the first team period. Cousins, after a day off, had a better showing than Mendoza on Monday ahead of preseason game No. 1, all in all.
Again, this battle is far from over. But Cousins has the upper hand right now, and just when Mendoza got some serious momentum, it was squashed by a strong veteran showing and a bad mistake or two from the rookie. Cousins keeps staving Mendoza off, displaying why he was signed in the first place.
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