On October 14, 2026, the New York Post reported that conversations were taking shape inside the Raiders organization about benching Kirk Cousins for Fernando Mendoza. After a fourth straight loss the Raiders said they are sticking with Cousins and reiterated that he is their guy with no change coming soon, while Kubiak said the team is considering everything, personnel and scheme included. Cousins said he does not want to play if he is not the best option, and later that he would have said so at the first OTA if Mendoza had clearly outplayed him. The statistical case is contested: Cousins leads the NFL in touchdowns but ranks 21st in QBR, and Minnesota is 29th in EPA per play.