Raiders QB Kirk Cousins just had the exact kind of practice at training camp that shows why Vegas brought him in
The Las Vegas Raiders brought Kirk Cousins in for a reason, and he showed why on Monday at training camp.
The Las Vegas Raiders believe in Kirk Cousins for a reason, and on Monday during team periods at training camp, he showed exactly why. According to Levi Edwards of Raiders.com, the veteran quarterback was on fire during team periods.
Levi wrote, “The veteran quarterback threw 5 touchdowns near the goal line, connecting with wide receiver Jalen Nailor on 2, 2 to tight end Brock Bowers, and 1 more to Michael Mayer.”
This is Kirk Cousins showing exactly why Las Vegas brought him in. It’s not the same type of situation as when Josh McDaniels brought in Jimmy Garoppolo because he was confident and familiar with Garoppolo. This is not Klint Kubiak bringing in Cousins solely because of familiarity, although that is part of it. It’s general manager John Spytek bringing in Cousins because he still has some ball left in him.
Cousins is doing exactly what the Raiders need from him
Sure, there will probably be a moment when Cousins ends up getting benched or loses his starting job this year. But as far as training camp goes, this is a guy who looks good enough to be the starting quarterback, and the regular season will reveal whether that holds up. Right now, he’s pushing it to the limit. He’s showing Fernando Mendoza exactly what it looks like to run an offense at a high level, and that’s all that matters at this point.
The Raiders want to win games and be a competitive team, but showing Mendoza what it takes to be a franchise quarterback is the most important thing right now. I think everybody would agree with that.
Last year, Cousins still had a little bit of juice left in him, too. As I’ve said before, he threw a catchable ball, one of the highest rates in the league. He was top 10 in catchable percentage at 89.5% and top 10 in on-target percentage at 78.1%. He didn’t play many games last year, but when he did play, the accuracy was still there.
The ‘washed’ narrative is fair, but it doesn’t tell the full story
A lot of people would say Cousins is washed. That is a fair assessment because he is older and a few years removed from an Achilles tendon injury. But the Raiders fully believe in him, and as soon as they stop believing in him, it’ll be all right because it will be Mendoza’s turn by then.
You love to hear reports of him having a great practice like this one. Five touchdowns in the red zone is exactly what Mendoza needs to be watching. When you get in the red zone and on the goal line, you need to come away with points. Sometimes three points is not enough. They have to be touchdowns.
It also shows that Cousins can find his wide receiver No. 1, Jalen Naylor, his tight end No. 1, Brock Bowers, and his tight end No. 2, Michael Mayer. Those three are probably going to be his best targets in 2026. You love to see this from Cousins, and it shows that he is winning the quarterback competition, as Kubiak has said. He is playing with the ones while Mendoza is still playing with the twos.
Either way, Kirk Cousins is having a strong training camp so far, and the Raiders have to feel good about what they’re seeing from their veteran signal-caller.
