The pick-six that Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw during Thursday night's preseason game against the Houston Texans was a blemish on an otherwise solid showing. Under duress the entire evening, Mendoza made do with what he had and never once backed down.
A stat line of 8-for-15 passing for 86 yards and an interception with zero touchdowns and a QB rating of 42.6 isn't going to move a lot of people. At least not in a good way. And for those who just watched the box score, Mendoza may have been a grave disappointment in his second exhibition contest.
While I'm not here to say that Mendoza played exceptionally, or even that fans should be happy with the outing, I am here to tell you that he showed some unquantifiable traits in the face of that adversity, which should fire Raider Nation up. Young quarterbacks aren't perfect, but the great ones respond.
Mendoza responded, both in play and in spirit, even if everything was stacked against him.
Raiders' Fernando Mendoza didn't let a big mistake define him in bumpy outing vs. Texans
Let's start with the obvious: Klint Kubiak and the Raiders' coaching staff cut Mendoza off at the knees. He was out there with the second-team offense once again, except this time, they took away his favorite target, Jack Bech, and swapped him out for Jalen Nailor.
***EDITOR'S NOTE*** Jack Bech played 16 snaps.
Behind a shaky second-string offensive line, which is being coordinated by Jordan Meredith, who seems to be in over his head for the role at this juncture, Mendoza was pressured throughout the evening. The young quarterback took a beating against a great set of Houston 2s.
I mean, Jadeveon Clowney was out there rushing against rookie third-rounder Trey Zuhn III, for Pete's sake.
But still, Mendoza came out swinging. Behind the sticks because of a false start, the Raiders' young signal-caller zipped a tight-window throw to Nailor to get Las Vegas back moving in the right direction. Then, Mike Washington Jr. broke a big run. All was well. Then, the infamous pick happened.
One could argue that Washington Jr. should have sat there and waited for the ball instead of drifting. Kubiak told reporters after joint practice, though, that interceptions are always on the quarterback. And Mendoza knows better than to throw off his back foot to the middle of the field that late.
What should inspire Raiders fans, though, is that Mendoza came back out swinging. After two runs to Washington Jr., Mendoza ripped another ball in a tight window on third-and-long with immense pressure from Clowney, just out of the grasp of Nailor, taking a hit in the process. Inches away.
Mendoza completed several passes and overcame an offensive-line-miscommunication-induced sack on the next possession to lead the Silver and Black to a field goal. Instead of forcing the issue on third down when they were near field goal range, Mendoza made the smart play and got points.
After getting pinned deep in their own territory, Mendoza led the Raiders on a long drive, converting on a key third down and moving the sticks a number of times. A perfect throw to extend the possession was dropped by Malik Benson, though, so Las Vegas was forced to punt.
With only 24 seconds to make something shake on his last possession, Mendoza found a completion, then took a shot downfield for the first time in live action. It fell incomplete, but the young player obviously wasn't rattled by his earlier mistake and kept taking chances to move the ball.
On third down, Mendoza entrusted Benson again, but his fellow rookie let him down with another drop. And that was it for the rookie quarterback. Clearly, it wasn't the best night for him, but Mendoza overcame a lot during this matchup and just kept firing.
Between his own miscue on the ill-fated interception, poor blocking and protection, dropped passes and bad field position, Mendoza was the same person and approached the game the same way throughout it all. And that is a wonderful quality to have as a young signal-caller.
Does he need to start making even more strides with his play if he wants to overtake Kirk Cousins? Absolutely. But that'll come with time and more reps. Mendoza's mindset and process are elite, though, and the dam will eventually break with his prowess on the football field.
Thursday was definitely bumpy. But Mendoza was as cool as a cucumber in the cockpit, never once looking like he was rattled.
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