The Las Vegas Raiders pulled quarterback Kirk Cousins and star defensive end Maxx Crosby out of team drills Friday, a day after the two got into a physical altercation at training camp in Henderson, Nevada. Teammates had to separate the pair, and head coach Klint Kubiak responded by holding both players out of practice work the next day.
The fight broke out when Crosby tipped a Cousins pass, forcing an incompletion, and Cousins charged at him, according to KTNV. The station, which first reported the incident, notes that Crosby is listed at 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds — three inches taller and 42 pounds heavier than the 37-year-old Cousins. Crosby wore his usual number 98 during the session at the Raiders' Henderson training camp.
Kubiak addressed the fight with the full team afterward, according to the same report, saying the Raiders have clear practice expectations and that Cousins and Crosby had violated them. Under NFL policy, altercations between teammates during a team's own training camp are left to internal discipline rather than league fines — a contrast with joint practices between two franchises, which can trigger mandatory $200,000 penalties, as NBC Sports has reported. That left the matter entirely in Kubiak's hands, and he chose to sit both players rather than hand out anything more severe.
Mendoza Steps In With Starters For The First Time
With Cousins and Crosby on the sideline, rookie Fernando Mendoza ran the starting offense during camp for the first time, per KTNV's account, and faced the Raiders' starting defense for the first time as well. Mendoza eluded pressure to find open receivers and threw touchdown passes to Brock Bowers, Michael Mayer and Tre Tucker during the session. Kubiak told the team that Mendoza would be able to run the first-team offense at some point in camp, though he has made no promises about Cousins losing his starting job and has not announced how he plans to divide snaps between the two quarterbacks going forward.
Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after leading Indiana to an undefeated 16-0 season and winning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien Award and a national championship, according to Chat Sports. He completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 33 touchdowns and six interceptions during that Heisman campaign. Indiana's quarterback signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $57.2 million rookie contract after going first overall, and Raiders offensive assistant Mike Sullivan said Mendoza continues to improve and is not repeating mistakes, per KTNV.
Why Kubiak Is Still Leaning On Cousins
Cousins remains likely to be the Raiders' starter when the regular season opens, KTNV reports, even with Mendoza waiting behind him. Kubiak, hired by Las Vegas on February 9 just a day after winning Super Bowl LX as Seattle's offensive coordinator, has said publicly that “in a perfect world” a rookie quarterback should learn behind a veteran rather than start immediately, a stance Chat Sports reported him voicing before the draft. That philosophy explains why the Raiders signed Cousins to a one-year, $20 million fully guaranteed bridge deal in April even after they knew they might land a rookie quarterback with the top pick — a deal in which his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, is covering $8.7 million of his 2026 salary.
Cousins' arrival came before Vegas teased a wild roster reset around the No. 1 pick, and Hoodline previously reported on the veteran bridge signing that preceded the draft. The Raiders have started nine different quarterbacks in regular-season games since 2022, including Aidan O'Connell, Derek Carr, Geno Smith, Gardner Minshew and Jimmy Garoppolo, according to Chat Sports — instability that has heightened scrutiny of any friction between the current QB1 and his eventual successor. Las Vegas is expected to turn to Mendoza at some point this season, per KTNV, and he will probably see the field early in Thursday night's preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
Crosby's Practice Intensity Meets A New Coaching Staff
Crosby, the Raiders' highest-paid defensive player after signing a three-year, $106.5 million extension with $91.5 million guaranteed in March 2025, has built his reputation on relentless practice effort since the franchise drafted him in the fourth round in 2019. He set the team's franchise record among defensive linemen with 364 total tackles through his first six seasons and ranks third in team history with 59.5 career sacks, according to Raiders.com, and he earned four straight Pro Bowl selections from 2021 through 2024.
Kubiak's decision to briefly hold Crosby back from drills reflects an ongoing challenge for the new coaching staff in managing his hyper-intense practice style, a dynamic that echoes tactics used by previous Raiders coaches, according to Athlon Sports, which reported Friday that Crosby had clashed with prior coaching leadership over practice management before. Elsewhere at camp, right guard competitor Caleb Rogers returned to practice after appearing to injure his left arm or elbow, telling reporters, “I feel great,” per KTNV. Kwity Paye, Keyron Crawford and Dont'e Thornton Jr. remained out of practice, while Jalen Nailor returned after missing Friday's session with an unspecified injury. The Raiders are off Sunday and return to practice Monday morning ahead of Thursday's preseason opener against Arizona.
Cousins and Mendoza both played well in that same preseason opener against Arizona, with Cousins completing 5 of 6 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown to tight end Michael Mayer on his lone drive, while Mendoza went 10-for-16 with a touchdown in his live NFL debut, according to Pro Football Rumors. Those performances, paired with the fallout from the practice fight, are keeping attention fixed on whether Kubiak can hold his planned quarterback hierarchy together if tension flares again at Cousins' camp as starting QB.
