Newz(AP) — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Maxx Crosby were suspended from team drills at practice Saturday following their fight the day before, giving rookie QB Fernando Mendoza his first opportunity in training camp to run the starting offense. “We have very clear expectations about how we want to practice, how you go about our business,” coach Klint Kubiak said. “We violated that yesterday, so we held those guys out.
That’s all I’m going to say about it. We addressed it with the team and we’re moving on.” Cousins and Crosby had to be separated by teammates after the fight. The 37-year-old quarterback appeared upset that Crosby tipped his pass, forcing an incompletion, and then charged the 6-foot-5, 256-pound defensive end, who is three inches taller and 42 pounds heavier.
The Raiders are off Sunday before returning Monday morning, so their starting quarterback and star pass rusher will compete against each other again, though, Kubiak hopes, without any punches. Mendoza has ups and downs against first-team defense With Cousins watching Saturday, Mendoza — the Heisman Trophy winner at Indiana who was taken first overall in the NFL draft — threw touchdown passes to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer and wide receiver Tre Tucker. He also had some misfires while facing the starting defense for the first time, but showed agility in eluding pressure to find open receivers.
“Fernando continues to improve, and the thing I think we’re very pleased about is from spring to the start of camp, there were some parts of this game we wanted him to improve upon and he has as we’ve added different layers and dimensions,” quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s not repeating mistakes, which is always a good thing. We’re pleased with how he’s developing.” Kubiak has said Mendoza, brought to Las Vegas to be the franchise quarterback, would be able to run the first-team offense at some point in camp.
The timing of getting that chance Saturday probably doesn’t hurt, given that the Raiders open their preseason schedule Thursday night when they host the Arizona Cardinals. Kubiak hasn’t made any announcements on how he plans to use his quarterbacks, but Mendoza probably will at least see the field early and possibly start. Cousins likely will be the starter when the season begins, but even then, Kubiak has …
Cousins and Crosby did not participate in team drills after getting into a dustup in the previous day’s practice, as Fernando Mendoza took snaps with the first-team offense.
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