Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza has a lot of weight and expectations on him heading into the 2026 season. Even with Kirk Cousins on the roster, the expectation is for the reins to be handed over to the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner at some point.
Who better to have than one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Tom Brady, as a mentor in such a situation?
Brady, who has a minority ownership stake with the Raiders, has been giving Mendoza advice ahead of his first NFL season. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has been teaching the 22-year-old how to lead an NFL team. That kind of advice is invaluable coming from a player who has led two completely separate franchises to a Super Bowl victory.
“I usually like to keep the talks between Tom and me private. I do think what he said as a quarterback is you need to be the most everything,” Mendoza said. “You need to be the most competitive. You need to be the most leader — you have to have the most leadership. You need to be the toughest, mentally and physically. You’ve got to embody all of these things and lead by example before gaining the equity and respect by your teammates, in order to lead effectively. That really resonated with me and other quarterbacks.”
The New England Patriots are slated to host Brady’s Raiders at Gillette Stadium in Week 5 of the regular season on October 11.
Whether Mendoza or Cousins will be the quarterback under center at that time remains to be seen. But at some point down the line, an eventual NFL meeting between Mendoza and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye feels inevitable.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Rookie Fernando Mendoza breaks silence on how Tom Brady is helping him
