"When we get out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback. He's the guy and he's going to get a ton of reps. He deserves them because he's played really good football. But I want Fernando [Mendoza] and I want Aidan [O'Connell] to push him." - Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, on the eve of training camp.
Surprised by 15th-year veteran Kirk Cousins being named the first-string QB over No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza entering camp?
You shouldn't be.
Not if you've been paying attention. Not if you've been picking up what Kubiak has been putting down since BEFORE the Raiders signed Cousins in free agency and BEFORE the Raiders used that first overall selection on the Heisman Trophy winner and national champion.
Remember, it was Kubiak who said at the NFL spring meetings that, in a perfect world, a rookie does not start on Day 1, rather, he learns behind an established vet.
Well…
Plus, Cousins, already familiar with Kubiak's scheme, was running the show with authority throughout the offseason program while the Raiders were being very deliberate in bringing Mendoza along. Especially with an offensive line in the middle of a rebuild after it allowed an NFL-high 64 sacks last season.
Takeaways from OTAs and mandatory minicamp are one thing. Gleaning info from common sense is another. And Cousins being the starter entering camp makes all the sense in the world.
Even if, yes, the QBs are competing "with" each other, rather than "against" each other, as Mendoza told me on Upon Further Review.
"That's pro football," Cousins said. "Every day we go out there and we all try to work together, raise the standard every day for one another. … That's the world we've lived in, even going back to college. They're going to put as many good players in a room as they can and see who can come out as the guy who's taken the spot to play.
"But we're all, then, supporting one another and working together. That's just the journey we've always been on and it's pretty much the norm."
So what, exactly, does competing "with" each other, rather than "against" each other look like in real time?
Cousins nodded.
"Always trying to ask good questions, help one another, challenge one another and raise the standard and have fun competing," he said. "Because competition is fun. So have fun doing that together, and I think that's what it will always be."
As Kubiak said, he wants Mendoza and O'Connell to "push" Cousins in camp.
And another takeaway from Practice 1 was this - Mendoza was showing good command of the offense while showcasing his understated athleticism in working with the second-team offense more than he did in OTAs.
Yes, Cousins is the starter entering camp. And, yes, there is a "competition" going on, of sorts. Two seemingly disparate things can be true at the same time.
Which is why Cousins, who has seen his share of cut-throat competition in a decade-and-a-half in the NFL, was so diplomatic in being named the starter.
"In this league, it's kind of one day at a time," Cousins said. "You're only as good as your last throw, your last practice. You try to, every day, go out and earn that opportunity and never take anything for granted."
Cousins did a double-take in the locker room Wednesday.
It was 7:10 a.m., about 20 minutes before that first practice and he found himself a solitary figure at his locker.
He looked to his left. He looked to his right. Cousins saw only two other teammates, so he wondered aloud, "Do I need to be somewhere?"
Everyone was already on the field, ready to go. Ready to compete. With each other. Not against each other.
Surprised? You shouldn't be.
