Kirk Cousins to remain Raiders' starting QB vs. Jets, Klint Kubiak says
HENDERSON, Nev. -- Kirk Cousins will remain theLas Vegas Raiders' starting quarterback for this Sunday's road matchup against the New York Jets, and "there's no controversy" about sitting the 38-year-old veteran for No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, coach Klint Kubiak said Monday.
"[Cousins is] playing at a very high level, and he's got to continue to do that for us to win," Kubiak said. "We got to keep helping all the areas around him. [I'm] excited for him to go play against the Jets."
Cousins' job security appeared to be in question when Kubiak said he would evaluate "everything," including the quarterback position, after the Raiders' 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, which extended their losing streak to four games and dropped their record to 3-4.
Cousins has been the least of the Raiders' troubles during their losing streak. He leads the NFL in touchdown passes (16) and is third in passing yards (1,877).
Cousins overcame a shaky first-half performance against the Rams and finished with 295 passing yards and two touchdowns. He had a 59.1% completion rate and a passer rating of 94.4. Los Angeles blitzed Cousins on 29.2% of his dropbacks, and he was sacked twice and pressured 19 times.
Kubiak said Mendoza is "going to play football." Mendoza made his NFL debut at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter in the Raiders' Week 5 loss to the New England Patriots, completing 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards in his short time on the field.
Kubiak added that the team has a plan for Mendoza, but they don't have a timeline for when the Heisman Trophy winner will make his first career start.
As of now, Cousins has the full support of Kubiak.
"Kirk is playing really well, and we're in the hunt," Kubiak said. "It's really important that we keep playing really well behind him and keep developing Fernando.
"Fernando is going to play at some point. It's not going to be this week."br/]
