Kirk Cousins' view on mentoring is different from Joe Montana and Brett Favre's

Joe Montana wasn’t interested in teaching Steve Young when the two Hall of Fame quarterbacks played together in San Francisco.

Brett Favre felt the same after Green Bay drafted Aaron Rodgers.

Montana and Favre wanted to keep their starting jobs as long as they could.

Kirk Cousins has a different perspective on mentoring rookie Fernando Mendoza in Las Vegas.

“On one hand, certainly happy to be a resource, and he’ll learn — we’ll all learn from each other so much in the quarterback room,” Cousins said on the AP’s “On Football” podcast. “I’ve always said that the quarterback room is kind of a working force together, where we’re all giving each other feedback, giving each other thoughts, asking questions, wanting to get a feel from the pulse of the room.

“‘What do you think here? What should we do differently, or what are we doing well?’ So, there’s always good dialogue. You know, I’d hate to emphasize the mentoring thing too much in the sense that it makes it look like I know so much and he doesn’t, when I think, in reality, we all have something to share, we all can help one another, and that’s how the good quarterback rooms operate.”

The Raiders drafted Mendoza No. 1 overall after the Heisman Trophy winner led Indiana to its first national championship. Cousins knew the plan before he signed with Las Vegas in March, reuniting with new coach Klint Kubiak. The two were together in Minnesota when Kubiak was an assistant.

“I think it helps to kind of hit the ground running and have a shared history,” Cousins said. “I think any time you have continuity or shared history with coaches or players, it just helps you move faster and have built some trust. And so I think that’s a positive. But, you know, in today’s NFL, that’s more of a luxury than a common thing. It seems like there’s just so much turnover and so much change that you have to kind of be able to hit the reset button every spring. And so that’s part of it as well.”

Cousins, who began his career with Washington in 2012, is on his third team in four years. He spent six years with the Vikings and the last two in Atlanta before going to Las Vegas.

If the Raiders start slow or he struggles early, calls for the team to start Mendoza will be loud. Cousins has played long enough to know how to block out the noise.

“Well, you just go play football. You kind of insulate yourself,” he said. “You certainly listen to the voices that matter, your coaches, your teammates. When they’re telling you something, then that’s what we’re doing. But I don’t think you need to listen to outside voices. And then you just go do your job the way I’ve known to do it for 15 years. You do the best you can. And then, you kind of let outcomes go where they go.

“I think when you stay focused, you kind of stay in your lane, you keep blinders on. I think that’s when I play my best. And that’s kind of the process I’ve employed through every situation I’ve been in, every team, every season, no matter what the journey of that season brought on, you kind of keep a similar perspective, stay consistent, and that’s what we’ll do again this year.”

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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) warms up during an NFL football practice Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza (15) and Kirk Cousins (8) participate during an NFL football practice Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Former Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is scheduled to be the featured speaker at a Labor Day rally in what may be one of his first public appearances since ending his campaign.

Platner won Maine's Democratic primary for the right to challenge veteran Republican Sen. Susan Collins, but he dropped out in July after Politico reported that a former girlfriend said he sexually assaulted her. Platner denied the allegation but said at the time he left the race that he was stepping aside because of the importance of defeating Collins.

Platner will appear at an event organized by Hancock County Activists called “Labor Day Rally for Labor” at Ellsworth City Hall, near his hometown, according to a notice on Hancock County Democrats' website.

“The rally will kick off a series of events leading up to the primaries, with musical performances and featured speaker Graham Platner, who will talk about the history of unions and the important role organized labor has played in our communities and our country,” the notice states.

The event is not being hosted or organized by the Hancock County Democratic Committee and it has no affiliation with the Maine Democratic Party, a party source said. Posting information about the event online was consistent with Hancock County Democrats' past practice, said Marcia Myers, chair of the county Democratic committee.

“We felt people should be aware of it, and informed about it,” said Meyers. “It's certainly notable that Graham Platner is a person scheduled to speak. We post this as information for people and they can decide whether to attend or not.”

Platner spoke at the rally last year, said Carol Leonard, who works with the community organization group Acadia Action, which is also helping to host the event. He’s not expected to talk about the campaign, but instead will focus on the history of the U.S. labor movement, she said.

The state party hastily called a special convention and nominated former state Senate President Troy Jackson after Platner dropped out.

Platner has kept a low profile since dropping out of the race and did not respond to requests for comment.

The Maine Republican Party criticized Democrats for the event.

“If Graham Platner is still a heroic leader for Maine Democrats, as this speaking event indicates, their party is out of touch with Maine," said Maine Republican Party spokeswoman Kristina Parker, adding that Maine voters were “disgusted” by Platner's actions.

Platner, 41, is an oyster farmer and combat veteran who filled theaters around Maine with his booming voice and progressive politics. He has no experience in elected office, but fashioned a campaign focused on working-class issues such as the high costs of housing and healthcare.

Platner’s campaign was beset with controversies for months. Among them, media reports emerged that the candidate had previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while he was married. He also had a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he said he didn’t realize until he was several weeks into the campaign. He later had it covered up with a different design.

Platner grew up in Sullivan, a tiny town near Ellsworth and about 170 miles up the coast from Portland.

Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.

FILE - Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at a campaign event in Bar Harbor, Maine, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)