Seahawks defense plans to ‘get after’ Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza in 1st start

The Seattle Seahawks have their sights set on making life difficult for Las Vegas Raiders rookie Fernando Mendoza in his first NFL start on Sunday.

“It’s a bit challenging because you don’t have no tape on him, so you really don’t have too many tendencies for real or some of his weaknesses, but as far as what I’ve seen on tape, obviously No. 1 draft pick, he can make all the throws,” Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II told reporters.

“But I feel like as a unit, as a defense, especially as a D-line, we can get after this guy, especially in the passing game. We just got to rush as one, be on one accord, and our communication’s got to be at a high level, but we can get after him.”

The Seahawks will have to rely on their evaluation of Mendoza coming out of the draft and the limited information available from his time in Las Vegas. The former national champion and Indiana Hoosier completed 6 of 8 pass attempts for 48 yards late in a 45-17 road loss to the New England Patriots in Week 5.

“I think we have to do a great job of understanding how they operate by situation at their core,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “Obviously, we are going to watch (Mendoza’s) plays and lean on the information we had coming out of the draft process, but put our best foot forward.

“He is a really good player. He is going to have a great career. You can tell that by the information we had coming out that he has a great skill set. We will focus on us and making sure we play our brand of ball and try to apply as much pressure as we can on their offense.”

Said Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV: “Knowing that he’s a young guy — they did a lot on offense with Kirk — so I think they’ll kind of dial it back a little bit, but you’re playing a player that’s the No. 1 pick and can make all the throws. Extremely intelligent guy from the looks of it, so I think we’ve got a challenge ahead of ourselves.”

While Mendoza’s debut will be a major storyline entering Sunday’s game, so will Kubiak’s first matchup against the franchise he helped lead to a championship.

Kubiak spent the 2025 season as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, playing a substantial role in guiding the team to a Super Bowl championship over the Patriots.

Might familiarity with Kubiak help in the Seahawks’ game preparation?

“We were able to get a feel on how he would like to attack us in practice during certain situational periods, and you got a great idea on how he likes to call the games just sitting there watching,” Jones said of the Seahawks defense last season. “I think that’ll help us, but at the end of the day, he’s got his own squad. He’s tweaked a lot of things, so we’ve got to go out there and execute.”

Macdonald said he enjoyed their time together and pointed to the qualities that made him believe Kubiak could become a head coach.

“He was a great team player,” Macdonald said. “I think that mentality is probably an underrated part of being a head coach and being able to see everything from a 360-degree viewpoint.

“He has a way about him where he can tell you the truth and go through it, not around, without sugarcoating it, but also keeping the personal emotions out of it as well.”

Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp said Kubiak possessed many of the qualities franchises look for in leaders.

“The character that he just goes about his day-to-day life with. The work ethic,” Kupp said.

“He lives all that out. And so, when you get a chance to sit down with Klint, you have to love the guy.”

What makes Kubiak different as a head coach with the Raiders are his outward displays of energy, according to Kupp, who said of seeing Kubiak jumping up to high-five a fan after a win in Las Vegas, “Like there’s no chance that’s Klint, but it is.”

Macdonald acknowledged that facing a former colleague creates a different dynamic.

“It feels like the first divisional game of the season, where it is like we kind of know each other, but we also know that we’re different,” Macdonald said.

Contact Donovan Hicks at [email protected]. Follow @HicksSports on X.