Raiders QB Kirk Cousins Postgame Transcript 10/11
RAIDERS QUARTERBACK KIRK COUSINS
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
October 11, 2026
Q: Going back to the run game for a second, Klint [Kubiak] mentioned it got away from you guys, the passing game. How does the margin of error change when the defense knows you’re passing the ball?
KC: Yeah, I think anytime you’re one-dimensional, it probably does make it a little bit easier on a defense. I think also playing from a lead, they can probably afford to be flexible with what they’re doing because they’ve created a bit of a cushion. But you certainly want that run-pass threat at all times if you can have it.
Q: Was there anything you saw this week that maybe even hinted to you as a veteran that this was coming?
KC: I don’t think you ever expect this, but I think there was a lot of respect for their defense. I played here last year and didn’t play, but preparing for them last season and watching their run to the Super Bowl, I think you saw an elite defense that was a Super-Bowl-caliber defense. Felt that all week as we were preparing for this game, just that we were playing a very, very good defense.
Q: You’ve had some success going up against the blitz this season. It seems like on some critical downs today they got after you, and you didn’t really have many answers. Where did you see the struggles there?
KC: Yeah, I think it was maybe a different answer, different issue on each play. But no, they did a nice job with their pressures, getting home quickly. It made it hard for us.
Q: It seems like you all had a mismatch with Brock [Bowers] and some of their secondary players. That secondary was banged up. Do you feel like you guys could have taken advantage of that a little bit more?
KC: Hard to say until I watch it. I think we targeted Brock certainly. I think anytime – I don’t even know the stats yet, so I really don’t speak from an educated place, but just kind of play each play for its own entity, and at times felt like we were targeting pretty heavily, and then just would have loved to have been able to make more plays, whether it was Brock or anybody. Just try to keep us on the field.
Q: When it was tied 14-14, there was that 11-yard loss. I know it’s not one play loses a game like this, but how damaging is a play like that, and maybe moving forward, trying to overcome something like that?
KC: Yeah, as you point to certain plays in the game that can lead to a tough outcome, that’s certainly one of them. There were others, but you feel that tension on any snap that any play can be the difference, good or bad, in the outcome of a game, and so you kind of play with that tension, even on the ones that appear insignificant to the eye watching from a distance. That was one of those plays that does come back to say, ‘Man, could the game have been different.’ But it certainly was more than just that.
Q: What did you make of Fernando’s [Mendoza] debut, first chance to get out there?
KC: Did a nice job competing. I thought he played well and did a good job.
Q: Also, you’ve got a tough stretch of games coming up here. What’s key for this team to rebound, and when you’re playing some more tough competition coming ahead?
KC: Yeah, I think every week is its own entity, so we have to come in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning and just, ‘Hey, it’s a new week, fresh start.’ You really have to as best you can, mentally, emotionally, create a segmented week because that’s what they are. You start 0-0 next week. You don’t start behind the 8-ball because you had a tough game the previous Sunday. It’s the same start as if we had a big win today. The ability to have each week be its own entity, whether winning or losing, I think, is really important for our football team to take that approach.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety on patriots.com. The duplication or posting of this transcript in its entirety as original content is prohibited. Media are encouraged to link to the complete transcript on patriots.com when sharing full quotes with their audiences.
Download Word Document: Cousins 101126