Raiders' Klint Kubiak explains Kirk Cousins, Fernando Mendoza decision for Jets game

After the Las Vegas Raiders' 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday that dropped what was once a 3-0 Las Vegas side to 3-4 on the season, head coach Klint Kubiak teased that he could bench starting quarterback Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie Fernando Mendoza for Las Vegas' matchup at the 2-5 New York Jets on Nov. 1.

After more time to think, Kubiak decided against a change. 

Raiders think Kirk Cousins is still "playing at a very high level"

As shared by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk and others, Kubiak wasted little time before he said early into his Monday afternoon news conference that Cousins will remain the Raiders' starting quarterback. 

"There is no controversy there," Kubiak explained about his decision. "[Cousins is] playing at a very high level. He’s gotta continue to do that for us to win, and we gotta keep helping all the areas around him. Excited for him to go play against the Jets."

While Cousins ultimately completed 26 of 44 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams, the Raiders entered the fourth quarter of the game trailing 28-6. That said, ESPN stats show that Cousins began Monday leading the league with 16 touchdown passes and ranked third with 1,877 passing yards on the season. Such numbers help explain why Kubiak isn't blaming his current QB1 for the fact that his club has lost four straight games. 

Klint Kubiak: Raiders "have a plan" for when Fernando Mendoza will play

Per Sam Warren of The Athletic, Kubiak said that starting Cousins over Mendoza in East Rutherford, NJ, is about "prioritizing winning the next game." 

"Eventually, Fernando is gonna play football," Kubiak added. "We have a plan. We don't have a timeline for that. Kirk's playing really well, and we're in the hunt [for a playoff berth]. And it's really important that we keep playing well behind him and continue to develop Fernando. Fernando's gonna play at some point. It's not gonna be this week."

Kubiak's "in the hunt" line would lead one to believe that those running the Raiders aren't thinking about becoming sellers ahead of the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline. Shortly after Kubiak spoke, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Las Vegas as a 1.5-point road underdog against the Jets.