John Spytek and Klint Kubiak made it clear this offseason that they preferred a young quarterback to sit and learn the ropes from a veteran. Las Vegas Raiders fans rightfully took this to mean that Kirk Cousins would be the starting quarterback while Fernando Mendoza learned and waited in the wings.
But somewhere along the way, the messaging changed. Spytek and Kubiak started to say that it was a meritocracy and that, of course, the best player would play for the Silver and Black. That, to many fans, opened the door again to Mendoza potentially starting in Week 1.
Early in OTAs, however, Las Vegas is reminding Mendoza that he is a rookie at every turn. Yes, all of his teammates and even Kubiak have fawned over him, but the Raiders' young quarterback isn't playing with the first or even the second team. And the veterans are making the most of their early chances.
Which is, in turn, making life for Mendoza a bit more difficult in some ways.
Las Vegas Raiders veteran QBs are showing out early in OTAs
During Thursday's OTAs practice, Cousins once again played with the first group, while O'Connell ran with the second team and Mendoza the third, according to The Athletic's Sam Warren. Cousins wasted no time proving his worth with the starting group and against the first-team defense.
He found tight end Brock Bowers, who beat rookie Treydan Stukes in coverage, on a seam route for a 30-yard touchdown during the team period. Although Cousins then tossed an interception to Jeremy Chinn shortly after that, the experienced signal-caller came back with a vengeance.
Cousins hit Bowers across the middle and Tre Tucker on a deep go ball after his turnover to cap off the team period, showing his unshakeable veteran nature in the early going. But Cousins wasn't the only quarterback who showed out during Thursday's practice.
O'Connell also made a handful of great plays, finding tight end Carter Runyon for a touchdown, wide receiver Dareke Young on the sideline for another score, and wideout Shedrick Jackson on a deep route to the end zone as well. Three big-time touchdown throws for O'Connell in one team period.
Now, Mendoza didn't necessarily play poorly on Thursday. That would be an oversimplification and a bit unfair. But he certainly didn't wow anyone, as Cousins and O'Connell did, and he was only playing with the third team. Clearly, he has some learning to do. But that is completely fine; it's May.
ESPN's Ryan McFadden noted that, during his first series, Mendoza had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage, his second throwing attempt was dropped, and his third was an overthrow. He did respond with an apparent dot to Malik Benson on a back-shoulder throw, as fans would expect.
Again, there is no need to panic at all. Mendoza has just a handful of practices under his belt with NFL players, and he is already showing flashes of what he can be. But the play of Cousins and O'Connell is a good reminder of how far Mendoza still has to go early in his career.
Plus, the better Cousins and O'Connell continue to play, the longer they stave off Mendoza moving up to the second or first group. Of course, these players are initially slotted in based on seniority, but Mendoza has to start playing really well or a veteran poorly for that to change, which is entirely fair.
Nobody in Las Vegas seems concerned at all about a few tiny Mendoza bumps and bruises at OTAs, though. Offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko spoke to reporters after Thursday's practice, and he talked about Mendoza's early growth and how much he appreciates his mindset and approach.
But Janocko also touched on how important it is for Mendoza to learn from those veterans in front of him.
"All three of those guys come in every single day, and they want to work. They want to learn. They want to be the best in the world. He's got two guys ahead of him, two guys in the room with him, that just set an unbelievable example with the way they work, the way they prepare. So, he's able to see that and grow within himself."
Because those two guys are such great leaders and already have skins on the wall at the NFL level, they can teach Mendoza a whole lot. But Janocko also made it quite clear that every guy in the room is competing; these veterans aren't just here to be Mendoza's advisor.
"We're trying to create an environment of competition, trying to create an environment of growth for all three of those guys," Janocko said. 'No matter where you are in your career, that you feel like you come into that meeting room each and every single day. and you have a place to grow and learn and become a better player, a better competitor, a better teammate."
According to Janocko, Cousins has had no issue with taking on that leadership role and taking both O'Connell and Mendoza under his wing. The biggest example of this is Cousins giving those two advice and physical or mental tidbits to flatten their learning curve in a new offense.
When it comes to how things transpired on the field on Thursday, though, Cousins and O'Connell didn't make things any easier for Mendoza. For a young player trying to climb the ranks, not performing as well against the third-team defense as the veterans did against the 1s and 2s is tough.
That said, it is still so early for everyone, and one OTA practice doesn't mean a ton in the grand scheme of things. How these three players stack days and their entire body of work will matter most in the end, and Mendoza still, in my opinion, has a good chance to come out as the winner.
O'Connell and Cousins proved on Thursday, though, that they won't just lie down and hand him the job. They're making life easy on Mendoza in every way that they can, but they are making him earn every single rep because of how well they're playing to begin the offseason.
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