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Notes and quotes from Day 1 of Raiders' 2026 minicamp

The Las Vegas Raiders moved into the next portion of their offseason program with mandatory minicamp getting underway Tuesday.

Here are three takeaways from the first day of practice.

Big day for No. 4

The biggest playmaker of the day was seemingly receiver Shedrick Jackson.

In team period and 7-on-7, he recorded at least five receptions, including a long touchdown grab from Kirk Cousins. What made Jackson's showing impressive was his versatility as he made plays at outside receiver and in the slot. While he's shown flashes at times throughout OTAs, Tuesday morning felt more like a standout practice.

Jackson, who is notably Raiders legend Bo Jackson's great nephew, caught his first career touchdown in Week 14 against the Denver Broncos last season.

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Growing secondary

Youth and athleticism are taking forefront in the Raiders secondary.

Rookie defensive backs got quite a bit of action, which included cornerback Hezekiah Masses and safeties Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson. Masses has been tested on the outside by the likes of Tre Tucker, Dareke Young and Phillip Dorsett II since the start of OTAs. The fifth-round pick from California was named First-Team All-ACC in 2025 and his 13 pass deflections were tied for second most in the nation.

Along with the three rookies, second-year cornerback Darien Porter received a lot of reps Tuesday morning. The 6-foot-4 former receiver is looking to build upon a rookie season in which he started 10 games with three pass deflections.

Mendoza making moves

Slowly but surely, Fernando Mendoza is coming along.

The Raiders coaching staff has been easing the No. 1 pick into the mix, with veterans Cousins and Aidan O'Connell seeing the majority of reps. Mendoza had a pretty clean day of practice and made some big time throws to the likes of Jackson and Dont'e Thornton Jr.

A noticeable area of improvement from rookie minicamp to now is Mendoza's footwork and mechanics. He's been getting a lot more action directly under center in practice, something he rarely did in college.

"I think Fernando has done a phenomenal job playing under center," assistant head coach Mike McCoy said post-practice, "and the great thing is, is that he's got a ton of work of doing it since we got here. ... There's a system that's in place, and Coach [Klint Kubiak] and the rest of the staff, we're installing a system for the long haul. And so, this is what we're going to run, this is how we're going to do it. ... But he's done an outstanding job with it."

"I feel confident that I'm able to see the field well," Mendoza said, "and that my growing pains are coming from, 'Hey, I've got to time up my footwork a little better with the routes,' and intricacies here and there, and I'm really working hard with coaching staff who's pushing me and have done a phenomenal job of relaying and communicating the information needed. It's up to me to take full advantage of that, and I feel like I've been growing every day from the first day of OTAs, then today in minicamp, I feel like I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was."

Get an inside look at the Silver and Black's first day of mandatory minicamp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.

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