The Raiders came back from a day off and left their seventh practice with the kind of split-screen that keeps a camp moving: Kirk Cousins hit two deep touchdown passes, while Fernando Mendoza kept finding answers in the short game. On a Thursday built around evaluation, both quarterbacks made a case that the Raiders still have real decisions to make before the season.
That matters now because the club is deep enough into camp for jobs to start sorting themselves out, but not far enough along for anything to feel settled. The passing game was the clearest sign of that. Cousins stretched the field to Jalen Nailor and Brock Bowers, and Mendoza worked the immediate routes with Shedrick Jackson and Malik Benson, giving the staff a look at two different ways the offense can move the ball. The search is still on for the quarterback edge, and the answer is not obvious yet.
The same uncertainty is showing up on the line. The Raiders are treating the two guard spots as open competition, with Jackson Powers-Johnson and Caleb Rogers rotating at right guard throughout practice and Spencer Burford handling most of the work at left guard. Jordan Meredith and Trey Zuhn III kept pushing Burford for snaps there, which is the kind of rotation that usually means no one has truly separated. Mike McCoy put the point plainly: “They’re all in this together,” he said, adding that they are “all trying to help each other out and it shows out here.” He said the staff is looking for “the best five upfront,” and that training camp is for finding “the best eleven.”
The defense gave the offense something to think about, too. It came away with two interceptions, and one of them came after Mendoza targeted Malik Benson and Darien Porter got in front of it. Buddy Johnson added the other by reading Aidan O'Connell’s eyes from zone coverage. Hezekiah Masses was active as well, batting down several passes and looking more adjusted to the speed of the NFL as the day went on. He has been described as making a real case to start at cornerback, and Thursday only strengthened that impression.
That is the shape of camp for the Raiders right now: one practice can lift Cousins, keep Mendoza in the discussion, leave the guard battle wide open and keep the cornerback group from settling into any simple order. The next practice will matter because the races are tightening, but the more important answer is still the one the team has not found yet — who, exactly, is going to hold these jobs when the work stops being a test and starts counting in the 2025 season.
