A very good thing: He was his harshest critic.
Fernando Mendoza was better than he let on when evaluating his play Thursday night. He looked the part. He got more comfortable as time passed. He settled into things. Didn’t force much at all.
It wasn’t near-perfect and it shouldn’t have been. There was some good and bad to his quarterback performance. But in the end, after the Las Vegas Raiders had fallen to the Arizona Cardinals 27-14 in a preseason game at Allegiant Stadium, there should have been a positive feeling about how the team’s heralded rookie appeared.
The ovation was what you would expect, loud and thunderous. Fans of the Raiders had waited for the moment.
For the time Mendoza would run onto an NFL field to lead the team’s offense.
For the No. 1 overall draft pick to be given his initial opportunity.
“Whether it was a missed throw or missed check or missed read, I let my teammates down,” Mendoza said. “I need to make those plays in the future.
“Confidence is always a big part in how you play. Mr. (Tom) Brady talked to our team last night and said no matter how good a high school or college player you were, the NFL is at a different level. I felt that tonight. I have a lot to grow from.”
First touchdown
Mendoza would finish 10 of 16 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown, which came via a third-and-goal from the 6 to wide receiver Jack Bech.
It was a drive that included a holding penalty, false start and Mendoza taking a bad sack, so the fact he rallied the Raiders to a score showed something.
He had Deven Thompkins for what would have been another scoring pass on his final series, but overthrew the wide receiver in the end zone.
“(Mendoza) led us on a good scoring drive as far as getting in and out of the huddle and getting the play calls down,” coach Klint Kubiak said. “I saw the same guy we’ve seen in practice. I see an ascending player who just has to keep getting better.
“We want to get him reps in the preseason. That was important for us to get him lots of turns. As these (preseason) games go on, we’ll evaluate. But he’s a young man that needs reps and experience.”
This is how it should have looked from the home team’s quarterbacks: Kirk Cousins as a veteran starter leading an opening scoring drive of 10 plays over 68 yards while completing 5 of 6 attempts, including a 13-yard score to tight end Michael Mayer.
And then taking the night off.
Enter Mendoza, who would play four series.
He wasn’t defending any passes for the Raiders — who saw Arizona complete its first 16 attempts — so he had a better than even chance of appearing competent.
And he did.
He looked like a rookie on some snaps and much better on others. Looked as you might have imagined for his first professional game.
“He did a great job, moving the ball and scoring points,” Cousins said. “It’s valuable experience for all of us to get out there. I think he’d say the same thing. It’s just valuable to get out there and play. I thought he did a nice job.”
The wise one
Cousins is the obvious starter of this team and should be. His was a professional opening drive that couldn’t have gone any better for the Raiders. But the time will come — it always does for a first overall draft selection — for Mendoza to lead.
And nights like this can only aid in that development.
And following the lead and learning from a player like Cousins can only make Mendoza much better.
“I pretty much just let him be,” Cousins said. “I don’t pull him aside and say, ‘Hey, come here for my wisdom.’ He’s a smart and mature person and, if anything, I don’t get in his way. He knows what he’s doing. I don’t want to overload him.
“If I think I can add a nugget here or there, I will. But he’s a great question asker. There’s also a lot of times when nothing needs to be said.”
This does: Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night looked the part more times than not. He was his harshest critic, which speaks to that maturity.
But as maiden voyages go, this was a successful one. Nothing beats experience. He just needs a lot more of it.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
