Raiders coach keeps faith with Cousins despite four straight losses, with top pick Mendoza still waiting

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak is keeping Kirk Cousins as his starting quarterback despite a four-game losing streak, with top draft pick Fernando Mendoza still waiting for his debut. Cousins will start on the road against the New York Jets on Sunday.

The start under Kubiak's new regime had gone well in Las Vegas. Cousins led the Raiders to a 3-0 start to the 2026 NFL season, the team's first such start since 2021.

The Raiders have since lost their last four games, including a 35-21 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, as the Rams got back on track.

The skid raised the question of whether Kubiak would change quarterbacks, considering Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, has yet to hear his number called in his rookie season.

Kubiak himself invited the debate about Cousins' job security when he said "everything" would be evaluated after another loss. But the numbers back up his argument for Cousins.

Cousins has the most passing touchdowns of any quarterback in the NFL this season, with 16, while sitting third in passing yards with 1,877.

He has completed 62.6% of his passes and thrown only five interceptions against his 16 touchdowns. Cousins also owns a 97.4 quarterback rating through seven games this season.

"[Cousins is] playing at a very high level, and he's got to continue to do that for us to win," Kubiak told reporters, via ESPN. "We got to keep helping all the surrounding areas. [I'm] excited for him to go play against the Jets."

"Kirk is playing really well, and we're in the hunt," Kubiak added. "It's really important that we keep playing really well behind him and keep developing Fernando."

This was the plan all along for Kubiak, who hoped Cousins would work his offense efficiently and allow Mendoza time to develop behind him. Las Vegas has hit a rough patch, but the test comes against a struggling Jets squad, who sit at 2-5 and gave the Miami Dolphins their first win of the season in Week 7.

As for Mendoza, his time will come, just not right now. "Fernando is going to play at some point. It's not going to be this week," Kubiak said. If the Raiders lose to the Jets on Sunday, the report noted, it may be a conversation worth having again with the first-year head coach.