The Las Vegas Raiders’ preseason is over, and there is still uncertainty over who will start under center in Week 1.The Raiders fell to the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 18-12 at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday, closing the book on their 2026 pre-season.The Las Vegas Raiders finished preseason with one win and two lossesGettyKirk Cousins went 8-for-11 with 51 yards, while Fernando Mendoza went 7-for-14 with 57 yards and one interception.After the game, new head coach Klint Kubiak refused to name the starting quarterback for the Week 1 clash against the Miami Dolphins.Cousins, who is the presumed starter, gave a blunt assessment when asked if he has done enough to earn the starting role.“I think it’s just up to coach. You just do the best you can with the opportunities you’re given, lead as well as you can, compete, and you’re never a finished product,” Cousins said.NFL Weekly Newsletter - SIGN UP!talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.MORE INFO & SIGN-UP HERE!This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.“And so naming something one day, it can change the next day. “So you just go about your business each day methodically and let the chips fall where they may.“Veteran Cousins was brought in by the Raiders three weeks before they selected Mendoza with the No.1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.With Kubiak uncomfortable throwing a rookie straight into the fire, it’s been Cousins’ job to lose throughout the summer, but the Kubiak’s unwillingness to name a starting quarterback has created lingering doubt.Raiders minority owner Tom Brady is working closely with Kubiak, and he understands the value of a QB sitting in his first year.Brady spent the 2000 season on the sidelines with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots as he bide his time behind Drew Bledsoe.Cousins isn’t reading into Kubiak’s unwillingness to name a starterGettyCousins is expected to be named starter, with Mendoza sitting to begin his NFL careerGettyBrady eventually got his chance, and the rest is history, as he became the greatest quarterback of all time.By and large, the decision to sit a rookie QB is a principle that Cousins agrees with.“I think you learn so much about how this league operates, how the season operates,” Cousins added.“How defenses will play you in situational football, how you prepare for the game each week, how you recover from a game, what it takes to really own a game plan over the course of six days to really get it locked in.“I went from college to the pros and it took some time, but there are other guys like Robert Griffin III, who I backed up, who were ready to go and had a great rookie year [and] won Rookie of the Year. “I’ve seen it a lot of different ways, and I think it’s all about the long game, winning the long game. That’s what I think we all want to do.”Mendoza’s growing pains against San Francisco’s reserves demonstrated that the leap from college football is steep, and Kubiak acknowledged this after the game.Kubiak acknowledged Mendoza’s preseason strugglesGetty“He needs another three preseason games,” Kubiak said. “You know, all those rookies do. And now that the season’s starting, you know, the practice reps get smaller, and that’s just life. “But, us as coaches, we gotta get them ready to play, keep developing them.”While the top overall pick will see the field eventually, Las Vegas appears content to play the long game.However, the QB battle remains open until Kubiak officially names his Week 1 starter, and who that will be remains to be seen.