Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is definitely staying involved in the Raiders offense.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been named the backup quarterback, but he’s still very involved in observing and learning the Raiders offense from the sidelines, according to a report from Sam Warren of The Athletic.
If you had any doubts about this, Mendoza spent last Sunday virtually glued to various member of the coaching staff as plays were called and sent in during the Raiders’ 27-13 win over the Miami Dolphins. He replicated the throwing motion or handoff steps of starter Kirk Cousins, which is unusual to say the least.
But this is how Mendoza works. He’s already been noted for his process of note-taking, which involves spitting back play calls, instructions and formations nearly verbatim in written form.
The biggest thing he’s learning is about efficiency. One of Mendoza’s biggest takeaways against Miami was the the margin for error is smaller, and the throwing windows are tighter.
This is especially noteworthy given that Mendoza struggled with this sort of thing during the preseason. His start against the Houston Texans featured several examples of this, including his first pick-six when he misread a throw over the middle to rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. and disaster ensued.
Mendoza is taking this sort of thing to what seems like ridiculous extremes. According to Warren, he mimics Cousins’ every action, right down to hearing and saying the play call, then making mock decisions about what throw he’d make as he virtually goes through his progressoins and reads. He even breaks a huddle of one after relaying the calls of coach Klint Kubiak to his invisible teammates.
Quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan also has Mendoza performing what he calls “America’s Drill” in practice, as Mendoza walks through the play, performs the associated footwork and progressions before Cousins leads the starters against the scout team.
There are limitations, however. Mendoza himself noted that he can’t do this on game day because it might be a “tell” on the sideline and give away a gesture or a particular throw.
Sullivan hasn’t objected to any of this, even though it seems like a remarkable act of patience to put up with it. He’s already joked about Mendoza’s handwriting in talking about the quarterback’s note-taking process, and Sullivan knows this is what he was hire to do given that Cousins is basically a placeholder at quarterback. It’s. a long way from holding a clipboard, and it is entertaining to watch.
