Mendoza making moves
Slowly but surely, Fernando Mendoza is coming along.
The Raiders coaching staff has been easing the No. 1 pick into the mix, with veterans Cousins and Aidan O’Connell seeing the majority of reps. Mendoza had a pretty clean day of practice and made some big time throws to the likes of Jackson and Dont’e Thornton Jr.
A noticeable area of improvement from rookie minicamp to now is Mendoza’s footwork and mechanics. He’s been getting a lot more action directly under center in practice, something he rarely did in college.
“I think Fernando has done a phenomenal job playing under center,” assistant head coach Mike McCoy said post-practice, “and the great thing is, is that he’s got a ton of work of doing it since we got here. … There’s a system that’s in place, and Coach [Klint Kubiak] and the rest of the staff, we’re installing a system for the long haul. And so, this is what we’re going to run, this is how we’re going to do it. … But he’s done an outstanding job with it.”
“I feel confident that I’m able to see the field well,” Mendoza said, “and that my growing pains are coming from, ‘Hey, I’ve got to time up my footwork a little better with the routes,’ and intricacies here and there, and I’m really working hard with coaching staff who’s pushing me and have done a phenomenal job of relaying and communicating the information needed. It’s up to me to take full advantage of that, and I feel like I’ve been growing every day from the first day of OTAs, then today in minicamp, I feel like I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was.”
