Patrick Mahomes saw something familiar in the Raiders’ quarterback setup, and he liked it.
After Las Vegas pushed Kansas City to the edge in a 30-27 loss on Sunday, Mahomes praised the way the Raiders are handling Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza. The Chiefs quarterback said the arrangement can be a major benefit for Mendoza, who was taken No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“It's going to do a lot of great things for him. Kirk is a true pro,” Mahomes told reporters, via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.
“… It will be great for Fernando to learn and just take in. You don't know until you're in the NFL.
Hopefully not too much, it went really well for me and Alex (Smith), hopefully maybe not that much unless I'm gone or something like that.”
Mahomes drew a straight line from the Raiders’ current quarterback room to the one he entered in Kansas City alongside Alex Smith. In his telling, the Chiefs’ approach gave him the chance to learn from a veteran before taking off into stardom.
That’s the hope in Las Vegas, too. The Raiders clearly believe Mendoza has the talent and the ceiling to become something special, and working behind Cousins should give him a strong foundation in how to play the position at the NFL level.
For now, Cousins is the one steering the ship as the Raiders try to recover from a hard-fought Week 4 defeat. Las Vegas dropped to 3-1, while Kansas City stayed unbeaten at 4-0 to open the 2026 season.
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Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore were among the most notable names, with Gonzalez expected to remain out and Barmore possibly limited to some activities. The Patriots do have a few players on injured reserve who are eligible to return, but coach Mike Vrabel said it does not sound like any of them are likely to be activated this week, leaving the Raiders with a clearer path to attack a defense that may be piecing things together on the fly. [Read more 🡒]