The Raiders preseason is over. Both Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza played in the finals, against the 49ers. After the game, coach Klint Kubiak still did not name a starting quarterback. The audio was dead during the first few questions during Kubiak’s postgame press conference. Apparently one of them addressed the QB1 issue. Via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Kubiak said he is not ready to name a starter for the Week 1 game in Miami. In the sound portion of the press conference, Kubiak likely talked about Mendoza as a player who may not spend much time practicing or playing in the future. “He needs three more preseason games,” Kubiak said. “You know, all those rookies do it. And now that the season starts, you know, the practice reps are reduced, and that’s life. But we as coaches have to prepare them to play, continue to develop them.” Kubiak later said of Mendoza: “We gave him a lot of time and I’m happy with where he is, but we have to keep pushing him to be better.” Still, Kubiak hasn’t named a starter. And the first real game is only 17 days away.
