The Las Vegas Raiders gave fans a glimpse of their future on Sunday in Foxborough, where starter Kirk Cousins was pulled in favor of rookie Fernando Mendoza during a blowout loss to the New England Patriots. The results were solid, if unspectacular as Mendoza completed six of eight passes for 48 yards.The brief fourth-quarter cameo couldn’t stop the inevitable as the Patriots breezed to a 45-17 win, but Mendoza did lead a drive deep into New England territory before getting pushed out of bounds on fourth down. Afterwards, Mendoza told reporters he should have thrown a pass to Deven Thompkins over the middle of the field. ‘That is totally my fault and I let the offense down on that play,’ Mendoza said. ‘… I need to work on my speed, because I wasn’t fast enough to get the edge, but I need to stand in there and throw the ball over the middle.’All in all, Sunday was a mixed bag for the eager rookie who is still just nine months removed from winning a national championship at Indiana. ‘It wasn’t a great experience because of the overall outcome,’ he said. ‘I wanted to do my part, any way I can help the team. I was called upon and I appreciate all of my teammates, especially some of the starters going out there and having that fighting effort. Entering in what you would call your NFL debut, it’s a good experience. Every rookie has it at some point. It was just that time.’ Fernando Mendoza completed six of eight passes for 48 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots Mendoza did lead a drive deep into New England territory before getting pushed out of bounds on fourth down. Afterwards, Mendoza said he should have thrown a pass to Deven ThompkinsThe 38-year-old Cousins did play well Sunday, completing 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown. First-year coach Klint Kubiak said Cousins remains the starter in Las Vegas as the team prepares to host Buffalo next week.’Just wanted to get [Mendoza] some exposure,’ Kubiak said after the game. ‘He did great. He did a good job. He did a good job.’All reps are valuable. Very important for him.”He did a nice job,’ Cousins said of Mendoza. ‘I thought he played well. He did a good job.’Mendoza said he will stay ready until it’s time to take on a bigger role.’I’m going to keep controlling the controllables,’ Mendoza said, ‘but it is good experience to have some regular-season snaps to go off and evaluate and get better from.’ Mendoza greets Craig Woodson, whom he played with at Cal before transferring to Indiana Raiders minority owner Tom Brady was not on hand in Foxborough, where he famously played for 20 of his 23 NFL seasons. The seven-time Super Bowl winner was instead calling Fox’s coverage of the 49ers-Seahawks game from Seattle. The best quarterback performance on Sunday belonged to the Patriots’ Drake Maye, who has clearly shaken some early rust this season to regain his 2025 form.Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns as the Patriots improved to 3-2. Afterwards, Maye shared some kind words for Mendoza, while reiterating the realities of the situation in Las Vegas (3-2).’I really respect the way he speaks about his faith, handles the media and just tries to be himself,’ Maye told reporters. ‘I think he’s got a bright future in this league, and I know whenever his time is, it’s going to come, and he’s going to do his thing. But right now, Kirk is playing some good football.’