How Fernando Mendoza Fared in His NFL Debut Against Patriots

No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza made his NFL debut on Sunday, coming in late in the second half.

The Las Vegas Raiders were down 45-17 to the New England Patriots, so Raiders coach Klint Kubiak decided it was time for Mendoza to see some official NFL action with just over six minutes of game time left. It was basically impossible for Las Vegas to come back and win.

The rookie quarterback played for one drive, which lasted nearly four minutes. Here's how his NFL debut fared:

On the first play, Mendoza handed the ball off to running back Dylan Laube, who ran for three yards. Mendoza then threw a two-yard pass to Laube. The quarterback then delivered on a third down by throwing a nine-yard pass to tight end Ian Thomas. Mendoza threw a short pass to receiver Tre Tucker, who completed a 16-yard run for another first down. Receiver Deven Thompkins got the ball next from Mendoza on a short pass, but he converted the pass for eight yards.

Mendoza then completed his third first down of the drive by completing a seven-yard pass to Laube. The quarterback threw his first incompletion on the next play, though. He then threw another short pass to receiver Malik Benson for six yards, but unfortunately followed that up with another incompletion on third down.

With nothing to lose, the Raiders went for it on fourth down, this time seeing if Mendoza could run the ball himself for a first down. He rushed for three yards, but came up one-yard short.

Mendoza finished the game completing 6-of-8 passes for 48 yards. Not too shabby for a four-minute outing in his NFL debut.

Mendoza probably won't be named QB1 right away, despite him running out onto the field for the first time this regular season. Kubiak still hasn't shared if the Raiders plan to start Mendoza at all this season.

It's all dependent on how veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins does, surely. He's led the Raiders to a 3-2 start, and has done pretty well on the field. Cousins has completed 64.6% of his passes for 1,026 yards, 11 touchdowns (tied for the most in the NFL) and four interceptions. It's worth waiting to see how Cousins continues to do before pulling the trigger on starting Mendoza.