Raiders Training Camp Report 18: Kubiak Turns Up the Heat

HENDERSON, Nev.—Last night, the Las Vegas Raiders officially kicked off the next part of the season as they hosted the Arizona Cardinals for their first preseason game of the year and the Klint Kubiak head coaching regime.

Moments ago, Klint Kubiak finished speaking after analyzing the tape of the tilt, and while there were an enormous number of positives from the game, the head coach is all business and really turned up the heat on his team and how they must improve.

Raider Nation | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

When GM John Spytek hired him with the approval of Tom Brady and Mark Davis, they knew they were getting a solid person who was equally as solid on the football field.

Kubiak isn’t prone to hyperbole or bloviating; he calls things exactly as he sees them, and that is simply baseball vernacular: balls and strikes.

Raiderettes | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

It’s important to focus not just on what Kubiak said, but how he said it, and in context. Let’s dissect his sentiments under the microscope as Kubiak turned up the heat here in the desert on your Las Vegas Raiders.

Ouch, Coach!

I asked Kubiak a few minutes ago whether anything positive stood out after watching the film. He wanted nothing to do with that. He saw plenty he wasn’t happy about.

"I think the thing that stands out to me, analytically or not, is our penalties. We really hurt ourselves. We put ourselves in some negative situations, and that's not winning football. Offensively, the fact that we didn't turn the ball over is always good. That's something that didn't stand out last night, but offensively, you can't go into a half of football and not score points. So, we didn't help the defense there. We weren't playing team football in that second half."

No Participation Trophies Anymore

One of the many things I admire about Kubiak is that, while he isn’t negative by nature, he is a realist, and he understands that there was a lot of good last night. He also knows there was plenty of bad, and he won’t candy-coat anything. A hard reality the team already knows, and the fans are learning, like the defense after last night’s loss, when Kubiak was asked for his assessment.

"Yeah, third down was not good enough last night in that first half. And when you're not - I thought Arizona did a really good job too of attacking man coverage, and they made some plays on the ball, so the coverage and the pass rush has to work together, and we'll continue to improve it."

More Defensive Disappointment

I said after the game that the most disappointing thing was the defense. The new NFL training camp rules limit tackling, and the Raiders were severely lacking in it last night—something the first-year coach didn’t overlook and pledged to address.

"Yeah, major area of emphasis. We've got to get better there, and we've got to get very creative as a coaching staff with how we get that done in practice, and we will."

Fernando His Own Worst Enemy?

Mendoza was the darling of NFL executives in last year's NFL Draft. One reason is that he's not his own biggest fan. For the young man who hadn’t lost in well over a year, it hit him hard. Does Kubiak think that could be a negative?

"The best quarterbacks I've been around are the ones that are hard on themselves. They put the finger on them before they put it on their teammates. I think he played good football last night. He's going to continue to get better."

Fernando Mendoza | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Too Much Too Fast for Fernando?

After last night's loss, Mendoza said he was going to watch the film. While you applaud his work ethic, does Kubiak worry that the driven young man may be trying to do too much, too fast? Here is a hint…no.

"That doesn't surprise me that he would go watch the tape. I think probably a lot of our guys did. A lot of the coaches, the way technology is these days, you don't have to come back to the facility; you can keep your iPad with you and go watch the reps. But as far as I know, our quarterbacks, they're expected to handle a lot of information and to process it all. So, I think you push them mentally and see how much their bucket can hold.”

Some Interesting Mendoza Material

After watching the film, Kubiak talked about something he noticed in the film about Mendoza’s game that really encouraged him. Let’s hope the rookie got the memo.

“I think the thing that just stood out for me, again, is that we put a lot on his plate and all the quarterbacks played getting ready for this preseason game, and he went out and executed the way that he does in practice. Some guys, they get to the game and things change on them, and it moves fast, and they freak out."

"And he was the opposite. He was very calm. He was getting the calls in. He was seeing coverage well. I liked the way that he moved in the pocket, got outside, and extended some plays.”

Kubiak continued his evaluation, adding, “So, I think that Fernando [Mendoza] has had a really good week of practice, and the things that he did in the game are things I've seen him do in practice. So, he's consistent. The consistency from the position is important, and I didn't see any game-day surprises just because the moment was a little bit bigger. He was the same guy."

Mike Washington Jr | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Rookies Rising

Spytek did an amazing job assembling a loaded UDFA hidden gems class. Several of those players are making pushes to land on the 53-man roster. For a sixth-round player to make it is amazing, but for a UDFA to make it is exceptional. After watching the film, I asked Kubiak about that class and how he thinks they did versus the Cardinals.

"Yeah, for sure. Cian [Slone] on defense has done some good stuff. We got the wide receiver position – we've got a few guys that have showed up between Chase [Roberts] and our young man from Indiana [E.J. Williams Jr.], they got some good snaps yesterday. Overall, those are the kind of guys that come to mind.”

He ended by saying, “I think there's potential for those guys at the bottom of the roster to show what they can do on special teams and try to help us. So, that'll be a good thing to watch too in the last two games."

Picking on Jermod

Everyone knows that in the 2026 NFL Draft, CB Jermod McCoy was considered the No. 1 CB, but fell to the top of the fourth round, where the Raiders selected him. The world’s top orthopedic surgeon discussed his injuries with us this summer. But after missing an entire year of football, the Cardinals went after him last night. Something Kubiak was not discouraged by; in fact, just the opposite.

“It's great for Jermod [McCoy] to go out and get that experience. His first football in a year. I still can't say enough great things about what he's done to get himself physically to this point, I'm really proud of him. And last night he got back to football and got a few thrown on him, but he's going to be better for it. So, we'll just keep improving."

Jackson Powers-Johnson vs. Caleb Rogers

Coming into camp, I said this would be a battle, and it has proven to be the biggest on the team. So I asked Kubiak for his breakdown of the battle moments ago.

“I've been really pleased with how both of those guys are playing. They're making each other better. They're making decisions hard on us. But it also means we're continuing to build solid depth. So, JPJ [Jackson Powers-Johnson] and Caleb [Rogers], they're both playing winning football, and they're both improving. And we're going to continue to coach them to improve them."

Aug 13, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) prepares to take the snap behind center Trey Zuhn III (66) and guard Caleb Rogers (76) against the Arizona Cardinals in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bech, Jack Bech

I said before camp that I liked and was rooting for Jack Bech. Last night he showed up in a big way. It was his best performance, whether in practice or in a game, during his short Raiders career, and nobody was happier than Kubiak.

"Yeah, he's a guy that has been highlighted before in our team meetings as a guy that plays really well without the football, and just so happens that when the ball finds him, he goes and makes plays. I don't think that's an accident. I think that's the kind of guy that he is, the kind of teammate that he is. Was really proud of the contested plays and critical situation plays that he made last night. So, that doesn't surprise me about Jack [Bech]. That's what his character is."

More Reps for the Rook?

After last night’s impressive performance by Mendoza, does that get him even more reps? I would think so, but Kubiak said he and his staff will focus more on that today.

"We're going to put a plan together this week, and that's something that we're talking about as a coaching staff right now. But really, whether it's Aidan O'Connell, Kirk [Cousins], or Fernando [Mendoza], I would say all three of those guys deserve first-team reps. But we've got to go put a plan together on how we're going to split them up."

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