{"id":19823,"date":"2026-08-14T02:45:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=19823"},"modified":"2026-08-14T02:45:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:45:47","slug":"fernando-mendozas-preseason-debut-rookie-throws-one-td-absorbs-one-big-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=19823","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza&#8217;s preseason debut: Rookie throws one TD, absorbs one big hit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>LAS VEGAS, Nev. \u2014 On Thursday night, there were moments when Fernando Mendoza showed why he was the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. There were also moments when he looked like a rookie.<br \/>\nMaking his NFL preseason debut for the Las Vegas Raiders, Mendoza finished 10-for-16 passing for 96 yards against the Arizona Cardinals. He took over for Kirk Cousins after the veteran led the Raiders to a touchdown on the team\u2019s first offensive series. The last pass Mendoza threw in the first half was his lone touchdown of the night, a slant to second-year receiver Jack Bech on third-and-goal.<br \/>\nThe&#8230;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAS VEGAS, Nev. \u2014 On Thursday night, there were moments when Fernando Mendoza showed why he was the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. There were also moments when he looked like a rookie. Making his NFL preseason debut for the Las Vegas Raiders, Mendoza finished 10-for-16 passing for 96 yards against the Arizona [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-napoli-eye-tolu-arokodare-as-striker-hunt-intensifies"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fernando Mendoza&#039;s preseason debut: Rookie throws one TD, absorbs one big hit - GiveMeSoccer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=19823\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fernando Mendoza&#039;s preseason debut: Rookie throws one TD, absorbs one big hit - GiveMeSoccer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LAS VEGAS, Nev. \u2014 On Thursday night, there were moments when Fernando Mendoza showed why he was the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. 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