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Notes and quotes from Day 2 of Raiders' 2026 minicamp

The Las Vegas Raiders were up and back at work early for their second day of mandatory minicamp. As the temperature began to rise, so did the level of competition on the field.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday morning's practice.

Offensive operation

Kirk Cousins took limited reps at the beginning of practice, but made a lasting impression with a 40-yard touchdown to Tre Tucker among his handful of plays made. The large majority of team period and 7-on-7 drills saw Aidan O'Connell and Fernando Mendoza split reps, with O'Connell finding veteran receiver Phillip Dorsett II for a touchdown in red zone drills.

"They're fun to work with," Cousins said Tuesday of the quarterback room. "We have fun in the meetings, have good dialog. They're great football minds, great studiers, so they can push me. I think to say I'm mentoring them is a bit of a reach ... I'm learning a lot from them too and asking questions of them. And so, it's always been a working force together in the quarterback room, and that's what it is."

Connor Heyward's usage was also noticeable on the field, wearing multiple hats for the offense in the ground game and the aerial attack. The fullback scored five touchdowns (two rushing, three receiving) in his four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Complementary showing from defense

The collective defense had a good showing from front to back in my eyes.

Coming off the heels of Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. having an impressive first day of minicamp, the front seven were successful in their efforts to stop the run Wednesday. Linebackers Quay Walker, Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg led the way, crashing downhill and hitting the right gaps as much as they could without pads on.

"Honestly where we're at right now, we're growing each and every day, that's all you can ask for," Walker said of the defense. "A lot of teams are preaching the same thing around this time. ... So we've just got to stay locked in with it and just have the mindset, and as a leader it's my job, I feel, as [to] come in with the right mindset and making sure guys can match my energy."

Edge rusher Malcolm Koonce stood out at the line of scrimmage, getting pressure on O'Connell and Mendoza along with a near interception that resulted into a batted down pass. Rookie safety Dalton Johnson caught an interception on an underthrown pass during team period.

Going toe to toe

The Raiders are evaluating two kickers on their roster, eight-year veteran Matt Gay and rookie UDFA Kansei Matsuzawa.

Matsuzawa has made headlines before arriving to Las Vegas. Nicknamed "The Tokyo Toe," he was motivated to teach himself how to kick a football with YouTube tutorials after attending a Monday Night Football game between the Raiders and Rams. He was named a consensus All-American in 2025 after going 27-of-29 on field goals at Hawaii.

"[M]ore self-taught, but this guy's done a great job in college, he had film to watch" said Joe DeCamillis, Raiders special teams coordinator. "It wasn't like he just came off the street and he's one of those tryout guys that never kicked. ... I think it's going to be a heck of a story."

Gay has a established relationship with DeCamillis after spending two seasons together on the Los Angeles Rams. The vet had a great showing during the situational special teams period, going 5-of-6 with a long field goal made for well over 50 yards near the end of practice.

DeCamillis said there are multiple factors to kicking competitions beyond makes and misses. He placed both kickers in several in-game scenarios to see how they kick under pressure.

"[O]bviously end of the game, end of the half kicks are more important than just the normal ball, for sure," he said. "They have to be able to do both, but there's a lot of things that go into play with all that stuff."

Head inside Intermountain Health Performance Center as the Raiders hold their second day of mandatory minicamp.

Head inside Intermountain Health Performance Center as the Raiders hold their second day of mandatory minicamp.

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