Raiders' John Spytek seems to explain Fernando Mendoza, Kirk Cousins plan

ESPN's Adam Schefter recently suggested that first-year Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak could make the switch from veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to rookie Fernando Mendoza "sooner than you think." 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Raiders general manager John Spytek hinted that he is not in favor of such a plan. 

John Spytek, Raiders want Fernando Mendoza "to earn" starting over Kirk Cousins

"He’s a tireless worker," Spytek said about Mendoza, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "He loves football. He loves his teammates. He’s energetic on the field. He’s self-critical. He’s self-aware. He’s very accurate. His time is coming, but he’s got to earn it every day, and he knows that. I think we’re all very pleased with the person and his work ethic and his commitment to being a great quarterback."

Mendoza presumably was given a fair chance to "earn" the starting job after he completed 10-of-16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in his preseason debut against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 13. From there, however, he was far more shaky versus the Houston Texans and the San Francisco 49ers. 

Against Houston, Mendoza went 8-of-15 passing for 86 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. He completed 7-of-14 passes for 57 yards with an interception versus San Francisco. 

Raiders believe there's no one set way to develop a quarterback

"Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, Patrick Mahomes, Jayden Daniels. Like you said, there’s success stories and failures in both ways," Spytek said about how teams develop young quarterbacks. "We’re just trying to build the best team we can and play the guys that are most ready to play, and have a constant competition in every room, not just the quarterback room, but every room. The expectation always will be that the best person, the person that’s earned it, the person that can do their job for the team, will be the one that plays." 

Brady, Rodgers, Love and Mahomes are examples of quarterbacks who learned about life in the NFL while sitting throughout their rookie seasons. Of course, Brady is now a minority owner of the Raiders, and he hasn't hidden that he thinks young quarterbacks should first spend time as backups before they become starters. 

For what it's worth, ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote that outsiders shouldn't be surprised if Mendoza doesn't start a game "before November" at the earliest. Spytek's comments would lead one to believe he'd be fine if Mendoza remained a QB2 until next summer.