The Las Vegas Raiders signed their 10-year veteran wide receiver to a reserve/future contract this offseason, specifically to help the rookie quarterback they were going to bring in. Phillip Dorsett II is a Super Bowl champion and a man who has lined up across from some of the best corners in NFL history. With a number one overall pick in Fernando Mendoza now on the Raiders, all eyes are going to be on him, but the veteran is already showing he has his rookies back.
Former New York Jets scout Daniel Kelly posted a video of Mendoza’s highlight reel from the Raiders’ rookie minicamp on X, but he wasn’t posting it as a compliment.
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“Let me guess,” Kelly wrote, “They will edit out all the interceptions, and all the bad-looking passes Fernando Mendoza makes from here until the pre-season starts.”
Dorsett, who has been with the Raiders since the start of last season, reposted that clip on X with his own response:
“Yeah, Duhhh,” Dorsett wrote. “Just like all the other 31 teams do with their QB. 🙄”
Kelly’s point seemed too harsh, considering Mendoza is learning a new system from scratch. He took the majority of his college snaps out of the shotgun at Indiana and Cal. To make a shift during the rookie minicamp, he took more snaps from under center than he had in three seasons of college football combined, but it was pivotal to his development in Las Vegas.
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New head coach Klint Kubiak runs a play-action system heavily focused on getting the most out of under-center snaps. Mendoza has described picking this scheme up as a “firehose.” Each of the last two nights before practice, Mendoza also ran 25 to 50 snaps under center with his offensive linemen at the team hotel, working through it on his own time. And after Day 2, he made it clear why he was doing it all.
“In rookie camp, everybody is trying to show out,” Mendoza said. “It’s essentially a tryout for all the rookies, including me. Camp invites, UDFAs, any draft picks, we’re always trying to rally together.”
Mendoza has also shared his early connection with rookie wideout Malik Benson, specifically, “Great playmaker, really fast and great hands.” Benson, a sixth-round pick out of Oregon, is someone the Raiders drafted to be Mendoza’s weapon. And before Dorsett went public with his defense of the QB, Mendoza had already gone public with his praise of the receiver room.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 27: Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza answers questions from the media during the NFL, American Football Herren, USA Scouting Combine on February 27, 2026, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire NFL: FEB 27 Scouting Combine EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602271103
Additionally, Dorsett going to bat for Mendoza publicly mirrors what former Raiders legends have also said about the expectations from their first-overall pick. Legendary Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown, for one, has offered the sharpest piece of advice.
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“Don’t try and be Tom Brady, don’t try and be Patrick Mahomes,” Brown said. “Just be who you are. Because at the end, it’s always going to come down to that anyway. You can plan to do this and plan to do that, but what’s in you is what’s always going to come out of you in the end.”
The stacked resume in college certainly means there will be expectations on Mendoza to deliver from the get-go. Kelly’s take proves that the No. 1 pick cannot hide from that, but that is why you have veterans on the team.
Phillip Dorsett showing up to defend Fernando Mendoza online shows you where the locker room stands with its quarterback. Even the wider NFL community came in support of the QB.
Raider Nation pushed back on Mendoza’s critique
The NFL community wasn’t waiting for an invitation. Kelly’s post drew a wave of responses from fans and observers who had the same read as Dorsett. And a few pushed the conversation farther than the veteran WR.
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“Honest question, has any team ever publicly released video of their QB doing poorly lol,” one fan questioned the specific focus on Mendoza.
Every team controls its own footage. So cursed highlight clips are not a Mendoza-specific PR strategy; they’re the league-wide standard. What’s more, it’s actually better to make mistakes at minicamps rather than under the lights on Sundays.
“Not defending Mendoza here, but I want my young QBs throwing ints in practice,” one fan pointed out. “That’s how they find their limits.”
A rookie quarterback who never forces throws in May isn’t really developing; he’s just managing the game. Mendoza, on the other hand, has already shown in the hotel sessions that he’s trying to push his limits. The interceptions are bound to come – he threw 6 picks in his 16-0 campaign last season, too. What’s more, in May, at the rookie minicamps with a new roster and a new system, Mendoza won’t be the only one throwing picks.
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“They do this with ALL players who have enough film to make a highlight tape,” one fan wrote. “That’s why they’re called highlights, because they’re showing the best plays. Please don’t act like he’s the only player this happens to, & he’s most certainly not the last. God bless you, sir.”
Another fan shared some personal experience, remembering a young Patrick Mahomes making mistakes in camp with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I’m old enough to remember my RaiderNation homies posting with glee all the INTs Mahomes was throwing in practice and into training camp…he turned out okay,” the fan wrote, before calling out Kelly. “And don’t get it twisted.”
Throwing interceptions in May has never decided a career. Even if Mendoza did make some mistakes, the team would try to help him, instead of posting it online.
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“What team drops footage of the bad throws on offensive highlights?” a fan asked, challenging that narrative directly.
The sharpest reaction to Kelly’s post connected directly back to what Tim Brown had told Fernando Mendoza.
“The issue not being addressed is that everyone is trying to make Mendoza into something he isn’t, nor has even come close to achieving,” one person wrote. “Trying to compare throwing motions to Brady sets up a dangerous precedent, and every time a young QB is compared to a great, it is a disaster.”
The comparisons have been circulating ever since Mendoza declared for the draft. He was always going to be a Raider, and he would have to play under Brady’s shadow, due to the legendary player also being co-owner of the team. The frame that’s being built around Mendoza, even before he takes a single regular-season snap, is the biggest hurdle for the quarterback to overcome.
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