Raiders’ Kirk Cousins Makes Feelings Clear on QB Situation

The Las Vegas Raiders wrapped up their preseason schedule Thursday night with an 18-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium.

Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins started the game and directed the first-team offense for two series. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 51 yards and posted an 82.0 passer rating.

Those two possessions produced field goals but no touchdowns. The modest output came against a 49ers defense that featured mostly backups.

Head coach Klint Kubiak still has not announced a starting quarterback for the regular-season opener. Week 1 arrives quickly, and the competition between Cousins and first-round pick Fernando Mendoza remains officially open.

Cousins addressed the situation after the game. He kept his comments measured and focused on the process rather than any claim to the job.

“I think it’s just up to coach,” Cousins said. “You just do the best you can with the opportunities you’re given, lead as well as you can, compete, and you’re never a finished product. And so naming something one day , it can change the next day. So you just go about your business each day methodically and let the chips fall where they may.”

The 14-year veteran also discussed the working relationship inside the quarterback room. He, Mendoza and Aidan O’Connell have spent the summer studying together and talking football.

“I think it’s just doing more of what we’ve been doing. We enjoy spending time together, have good football conversations,” Cousins said. “I think we’ll continue to have that, and I look forward to those times.“A lot of times it’s Wednesday and Thursday and Friday post-practice when it’s just us in there and we’re able to kind of talk through things and we’ll have a lot of those meetings up ahead.”

Cousins joined the Raiders this offseason after a brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons. Last year he played 302 pass snaps and earned a 76.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.

He threw for 1,721 yards and 10 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also recorded nine big-time throws and five turnover-worthy plays according to the same grading service.

The Raiders signed him in part to give Mendoza time to develop. Kubiak has repeatedly said he does not want to rush the rookie into the lineup before he is ready.

Cousins spoke about the value of watching from the sideline early in a career, drawing on his own experience as a young player. He did not name Mendoza directly but described the lessons that come with waiting.

“I think you learn so much about how this league operates, how the season operates, how defenses will play you in situational football, how you prepare for the game each week, how you recover from a game, what it takes to really own a game plan over the course of six days to really get it locked in,” Cousins said. “There’s a lot that, for me, was a big jump.

“I went from college to the pros and it took some time, but there are other guys like Robert Griffin III, who I backed up, who were ready to go and had a great rookie year [and] won Rookie of the Year. I’ve seen it a lot of different ways, and I think it’s all about the long game, winning the long game. That’s what I think we all want to do.”

The Raiders open the regular season against the Miami Dolphins. Kubiak is expected to make a final decision on the starting quarterback in the coming days.