As the Raiders were rattling off three straight wins to start the season, the decision to ride with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins was looking like the right way to go. Now that the Raiders have lost four in a row, it’s fair to wonder whether the time for rookie first-rounder Fernando Mendoza’s time to play is coming.
Cousins was asked about the possibility of being replaced by the first overall pick in the draft after Sunday’s 35-21 loss to the Ras.
“It’s really the same every day that it was in March or April,” Cousins told reporters. “I mean, nothing changes in the sense that if I’m not the best option then I don’t want to be out there, either. I want our football team to have the best chance to win games, and if [in] the first OTA if that had become apparent, I would have been the first one to say, ‘Yeah, you can’t play me.’
“So nothing changes, you know, and the organization will do what they feel is best. I feel that, you know, Fernando’s done a great job and has a great future ahead, and I try to go out there and play as well as I possibly can help us win and give him a great example to learn from, until he does go out there eventually.”
At some point, however, it’s less about who gives the team the best chance to win and getting Mendoza ready to try to win in 2027. Likewise, the powers-that-be could decide to give the team a spark by making a change — before the losses stack to the point at which a playoff berth is unrealistic — even before Medoza is technically the better performer.
