Las Vegas Raiders star Kirk Cousins isn’t worried about being the starting quarterback because he knows that God is in control.
In April, the Raiders signed Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler who’s about to be 38. But just weeks later, the team added rookie QB Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and “a player who dominated his way to a national championship and a Heisman Trophy with the Indiana Hoosiers,” according to Sports Spectrum.
The Raiders also retained QB Aidan O’Connell, “who started 17 games for the franchise in 2023-24 and 2024-25.”
While the team’s new head coach, Klint Kubiak, signaled that he prefers the rookie quarterback begin his career behind a veteran, that doesn’t mean Cousins’ starting spot is locked in.
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“Everybody in the quarterback room is a top-tier quarterback,” Mendoza said last week as he recognized the competition in the QB room, “and it’s going to be competing with each other, not competing against each other. … Competing with each other [is] pushing each other to be the best quarterback we can possibly be for the Las Vegas Raiders, and to enable [us] to then win as many games as possible.”
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Cousins isn’t concerned with starting or being a backup. He knows that God is one who “owns my football career.”
“It’s helped to recognize Who owns my football career,” Cousins said on the “Sports Spectrum” podcast last month, “and I use the word ‘my’ loosely. Once I’ve come to the realization that I’m a steward and it’s my job to steward this football career and this football journey — which means that I need to give great effort, I need to prepare well, I need to lead well, I need to build relationships, there’s plenty for me to do as a steward. But it also frees you up to not stress about things. … The first thing to do in being a steward is to surrender.”
“Wherever you end up playing, you are sent by God, and He has a purpose for you being there,” he emphasized.
Cousins’ focus is to do what he can on the field and to spend time in prayer with God off of it.
“There’s the intentional portion of prayer that’s very much maybe carving out time in the morning or in the evening to do that; maybe it’s with other people, not just with yourself,” Cousins explained. “Then there’s also the prayer that is just an ongoing walk and relationship and conversation with Jesus all throughout your day. I don’t think it’s one or the other.”
Whether he ends up starting under center or watching from the sideline, Cousins’ approach to the Raiders’ crowded quarterback competition reflects a broader outlook rooted in his faith: that his career, ultimately, isn’t his to control.
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