The Texans will have joint practices with two teams this summer.
Their joint practice with the Panthers before the final preseason game on Aug. 28 was previously reported on Monday. The Texans also will hold a joint practice with the Raiders ahead of the Aug. 20 preseason game in Houston, Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reports.
New Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is the son of Gary Kubiak, who was the Texans’ head coach from 2006-13.
It will give Raiders quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza a chance to take snaps against one of the league’s top defenses.
Former NFL defensive end Josh Mauro died last month at 35. Via the California Post, authorities have determined that Mauro’s death occurred as a result of an accidental drug overdose.
Officially, the cause of death was “acute combined fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol intoxication.”
Mauro, who played college football at Stanford from 2010 through 2013, went undrafted in 2014. After four years with the Cardinals, Mauro spent one with the Giants and one with the Raiders. He returned to Arizona for the final two season of his career, in 2020 and 2021.
He appeared in 80 career regular-season games, with 40 starts.
Though they drafted quarterback Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall in April, the Raiders are one of five teams without a scheduled primetime game in 2026.
That’s not something new from the NFL, as the Titans didn’t have a primetime game in 2025 either after selecting quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick.
While the Raiders are a storied team with a nationally recognized brand, the fact that the team has won just seven games over the last two seasons is surely factoring into how attractive — or, in this case, unattractive — the club is for games in a standalone window.
In a conference call on Friday, NFL VP of broadcasting planning Mike North was asked whether or not the uncertainty of Mendoza being Las Vegas’ starting quarterback factored into the decision to keep the Raiders out of a primetime slot.
“As far as the Raiders go, I mean, nobody knows if or when Mendoza might play,” North said, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN. “It would certainly be great if we knew. We don’t. But they went out and signed a very competent veteran quarterback, and if they find themselves, you know, hovering around .500 and playoff-relevant in the middle of the season, they might be a little more reluctant to pull the trigger and move to the rookie. And if they are playoff-relevant, they will find themselves flexed into bigger national television windows, whether it’s Sunday night, Monday night, or just a bigger footprint on a Sunday afternoon.
“Not to point fingers, but I think the best comp is probably Tennessee from last year. They drafted No. 1 overall, took a quarterback who looks like he can play in this league, [and] they didn’t happen to get a national television appearance last year, either. … We don’t draft our way into primetime. We play our way into primetime.”
While head coach Klint Kubiak and the rest of the Raiders’ brass have said that they’d prefer to have a veteran start over a rookie quarterback early, Mendoza could be in the starting lineup sooner than later over veteran Kirk Cousins. We’ll see how Las Vegas’ quarterback situation plays out and whether or not the club can play its way into a flexed primetime spot as the season unfolds.
There’s set to be a familiar name on the Michigan football team for the 2027 season.
Charles Woodson Jr. has committed to play for the Wolverines, per Hayes Fawcett of On3.com. Woodson is a defensive back who attends high school in Orlando, Florida.
The name is familiar in Ann Arbor because Charles Woodson is one of the greatest players to ever put on a maize and blue uniform. Woodson became the first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy while leading Michigan to a national title in 1997. Woodson went on to play for Raiders and Packers during an NFL career that featured a defensive player of the year award, a Super Bowl title and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Those make for big steps to follow and the younger Woodson is following the first of them by committing to Michigan.
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak repeatedly has said he would prefer that a rookie quarterback not start Day 1. That’s why the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins before drafting Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick.
The sportsbooks like Cousins to start Week 1, but the NFL made it easier for the Raiders to start Mendoza from the jump.
Las Vegas opens the season with the Dolphins on Sept. 13, followed by the Chargers and Saints. The Dolphins are rebuilding; the Chargers defense lost defensive coordinator Jesse Minter; and the Saints have 11 total wins the past two seasons.
If the Raiders wait until later in the season to start Mendoza, they could do it in Week 12 against the Browns, which is followed by a bye week. The Raiders then close with the Chargers, Broncos, Titans, Cardinals and Chiefs.
The Raiders were one of five teams not to get a primetime game in 2026, so the NFL won’t showcase Mendoza this season if he becomes the starter at any point this season.
