HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Maxx Crosby were suspended from team drills at practice Saturday following their fight the day before, giving rookie QB Fernando Mendoza his first opportunity in training camp to run the starting offense.
“We have very clear expectations about how we want to practice, how you go about our business,” coach Klint Kubiak said. “We violated that yesterday, so we held those guys out. That's all I'm going to say about it. We addressed it with the team and we're moving on.”
Cousins and Crosby had to be separated by teammates after the fight. The 37-year-old quarterback appeared upset that Crosby tipped his pass, forcing an incompletion, and then charged the 6-foot-5, 256-pound defensive end, who is three inches taller and 42 pounds heavier.
The Raiders are off Sunday before returning Monday morning, so their starting quarterback and star pass rusher will compete against each other again, though, Kubiak hopes, without any punches.
Mendoza has ups and downs against first-team defense
With Cousins watching Saturday, Mendoza — the Heisman Trophy winner at Indiana who was taken first overall in the NFL draft — threw touchdown passes to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer and wide receiver Tre Tucker.
He also had some misfires while facing the starting defense for the first time, but showed agility in eluding pressure to find open receivers.
“Fernando continues to improve, and the thing I think we're very pleased about is from spring to the start of camp, there were some parts of this game we wanted him to improve upon and he has as we've added different layers and dimensions,” quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan said. “He's not repeating mistakes, which is always a good thing. It's a long process. We're pleased with how he's developing.”
Kubiak has said Mendoza, brought to Las Vegas to be the franchise quarterback, would be able to run the first-team offense at some point in camp.
The timing of getting that chance Saturday probably doesn't hurt, given that the Raiders open their preseason schedule Thursday night when they host the Arizona Cardinals. Kubiak hasn't made any announcements on how he plans to use his quarterbacks, but Mendoza probably will at least see the field early and possibly start.
Cousins likely will be the starter when the season begins, but even then, Kubiak has made no promises. The Raiders are expected to turn to Mendoza at some point this season.
“The visual and verbal communication he's made, certainly the ability to take snaps under center, those are things we've seen him improve upon,” Sullivan said. “He's going to continue to work on and we want him to still want him to be even better. But we're pleased with where that's at right now.”
Injury updates
Wide receiver Jalen Nailor returned to practice after sitting out Friday with an unspecified injury, but defensive ends Kwity Paye and Keyron Crawford as well as wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. remained out.
Caleb Rogers, who is competing with Jackson Powers-Johnson at right guard, appeared to injure his left arm or elbow, but wound up returning.
“I feel great,” Rogers said, without going into specifics.
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