HENDERSON (KTNV) — Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak made it clear on Monday that Kirk Cousins will remain the starter for Week 8 against the New York Jets.
"Kirk is our starting quarterback. There is no controversy," Kubiak said. "He's playing at a very high level. He's got to continue to do that for us to win, and we have to keep helping all of the areas around him."
After the Raiders' fourth straight loss on Sunday, Kubiak said he is evaluating everything right now, which sparked a national narrative about whether or not the team will begin preparing for the future and start Fernando Mendoza.
Meanwhile, Cousins is playing some of the best football of his career — leading the league in passing touchdowns with 16 and sitting top three in passing yards. Kubiak says they need to quickly fix the run game — or lack thereof — and their inability to stop the run.
"When you are down multiple scores, it is not a running game," Kubiak said. "We've been giving up way too many points right now to put ourselves in position to be balanced in the fourth quarter, be balanced in the third quarter, so I like the strides our guys are taking in practice. I've seen it in the game; I've seen how our runners are breaking tackles."
The 304 Raiders' defense gave up 199 yards on the ground to the Los Angeles Rams, and the offense carried the ball 17 times for just 48 yards. This is the fifth-straight game where the Raiders' defense has given up at least 27 points and the sixth giving up more than 100 yards on the ground.
The future is important to plan for, but Kubiak says the Silver & Black are still prioritizing winning the next game on the road against the Jets.
"Kirk is playing really well, and we're in the hunt," Kubiak said. "It's really important that they keep playing really well behind them and continue to develop Fernando. Fernando is going to play, but at some point — it's not going to be this week."
Wide receiver Jack Bech is expected to practice this week.
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Raiders crank up the noise as team prepares for first road trip of preseason
Las Vegas Raiders players and coaches turned up the intensity — and the volume — at Monday's practice as the team got ready to hit the road.
Raiders OL Jackson Powers-Johnson leaves practice early, escorted into facility
Las Vegas Raiders right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson left practice early Monday and was escorted by a trainer into the team facility.
Raiders reflect on first preseason game ahead of traveling to face Texans
The Silver and Black reflected on their first preseason game of the season on Sunday morning at practice.
Raiders reflect on first preseason game ahead of traveling to face Texans
The Raiders took the field at headquarters on Sunday, cleaning up mistakes made in their preseason opener against Arizona.
