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The NFL preseason is officially underway, and Thursday night brought plenty of exciting unofficial debuts. No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza made his debut for the Las Vegas Raiders alongside Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love. Meanwhile, the duo of second-year Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward and rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate also got in on the action. In non-game action, two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes will sit out the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason opener and could be on the verge of missing preseason action for the first time in his career. Here’s what you need to know from Thursday around the NFL. The Fernando Mendoza era has officially begun for the Las Vegas Raiders. Making his debut on Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals, he made his impact known bright and early in Klint Kubiak’s newly revamped offense. Mendoza entered the game on the second drive after veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins was pulled after leading the Raiders to an opening scoring drive. The No. 1 overall pick out of Indiana didn’t have to wait long to make his impact felt. Mendoza led a scoring drive on just his second possession, connecting with second-year wide receiver Jack Bech over the middle on a 6-yard touchdown slant. Mendoza finished the game completing 10-of-16 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. While the team remains adamant about redshirting him this season, continuing at this level could spark a real quarterback competition as the year goes on. Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love made his preseason NFL debut Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders after sitting out the Hall of Fame Game last week. Love rushed 11 times for 58 yards, splitting work in the backfield with Tyler Allgier in the first half. The No. 3 overall pick in the draft made some standout plays while contributing to three Cardinals scoring drives. Love made a pair of Raiders defenders miss on the way to a 9-yard gain to convert on third down. The rookie running back wasn’t done there, as he hurdled over another Raiders’ defender on a draw later in the half. Love finished with 14 touches for 73 total yards. The Drew Allar era in Pittsburgh kicked off late in the third quarter on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. Coming in as the third quarterback of the night, Allar put together a strong Steelers debut. Allar led three scoring drives in the second half, completing 10 of 13 passes for 154 yards and two passing touchdowns. His highlight of the night came on his very first throw, which was a 74-yard slant completion to second-year wide receiver Kaden Wetjen. Allar also scored a rushing touchdown in the Steelers’ 28–9 win over the Packers on Thursday night and put together a complete performance. Mason Rudolph and Will Howard both took snaps before Allar, but all three are in a battle for the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers. If Allar keeps playing like this for the rest of the preseason, it would certainly help his case for being Pittsburgh’s QB2. And maybe the Steelers already have their heir apparent to Rodgers if Allar keeps flashing like he did on Thursday? Cam Ward saw plenty of action Thursday night with the Tennessee Titans as the new-look offense under offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was on full display. Ward orchestrated a 95-yard opening drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Tony Pollard. Ward had a roller-coaster start to the preseason, overcoming a few early misses to spread the ball around throughout the night. While he couldn’t connect with No. 4 overall pick Carnell Tate on three targets, Wan’Dale Robinson stepped up with two catches for 19 yards. He played the majority of the first half before being pulled for backup third-year quarterback Will Levis. Ward capped off his night by completing 5-of-12 passes for 57 yards, finishing with a 56.6 QBR. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is not expected to suit up for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams, per The Kansas City Star. Instead, Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier, and Chris Oladokun are expected to split reps under center. Mahomes sitting out the entire preseason remains a real possibility as he continues recovering from last season’s torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. However, he’s participated in the majority of training camp so far and has a chance at suiting up for Week 1 against the Denver Broncos. Outside of 2020, when the preseason was canceled due to COVID-19, this could mark the first preseason Mahomes misses entirely. If so, all eyes shift to his health and whether he’ll be cleared in time for the team’s season opener. Prior to his Week 15 injury, Mahomes recorded 3,587 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions with a 62.7% completion rate. He also added 422 yards and five scores on the ground. After working out for multiple teams in recent weeks, cornerback Terrion Arnold is reportedly expected to sign with the Seattle Seahawks. Arnold was a 2024 first-round pick out of Alabama and was released by the Detroit Lions in June following his arrest on felony kidnapping and armed robbery charges. The NFL has yet to decide whether to place him on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. Arnold reportedly visited with the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, and New York Giants before signing with the Seahawks. He will now join a cornerback room alongside Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe. With eight felony charges hanging over him following his June arrest, it remains uncertain whether Arnold will ever play another snap in the NFL.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas) — Thursday only marked the unofficial start of the Fernando Mendoza era in Las Vegas, but he gave the Raiders plenty of reason for hope in his preseason debut. The Raiders’ rookie quarterback and the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown with zero turnovers in the team’s 27-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. Mendoza played four drives, getting his first taste of NFL action after Kirk Cousins got the start at quarterback for Las Vegas. Here are my three takeaways from Mendoza’s preseason debut, which also featured the debut of Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, who was the third overall pick in the draft. 1. Can Raiders Keep Mendoza On Bench For Long? Cousins got the start in Thursday’s game and did as well as anyone could’ve asked. The veteran completed 5 of 6 passes for 50 yards, throwing a touchdown pass in his only drive of the game. But all of the excitement was waiting for Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a national title last year. His first drive wasn’t great, converting a third-and-8 pass to wide receiver Jack Bech before the drive reached a halt due to a holding penalty by a backup offensive lineman. However, Mendoza’s second drive was enough to get Raiders fans excited. He threaded a pass between two defenders to Malik Benson for a 19-yard gain to get the drive going. Then, after another Raiders rookie, running back Mike Washington, broke loose for a 53-yard run, Mendoza made sure Las Vegas found the end zone. He took a sack on first-and-goal, but avoided another to help set up a third-and-goal at the 6-yard line. Mendoza came through on that play, completing a quick slant to Bech for a touchdown and the highlight of his preseason debut. That was the only time the Raiders put up points when Mendoza was on the field, although the team got into field goal range in his final drive of the night. Still, that might have been enough, though, to make you wonder how long Las Vegas will keep him on the bench behind Cousins, as Mendoza played into the fourth quarter. Las Vegas head coach Klint Kubiak reiterated after Thursday’s game that the starting job was Cousins’ “to lose.” Kubiak’s comment won’t stop Raiders fans from getting excited about Mendoza, though. Ahead of Thursday’s game, there was a group of fans I saw holding a flag with Mendoza’s face wearing an eyepatch in place of the Raiders’ logo. 2. Raiders Offense Looks Much Improved A rare Thursday home kickoff allowed Raiders’ minority owner Tom Brady to watch the game in person, as he’s usually busy calling games for FOX Sports when the team’s playing. And in his appearance, Brady got to see an upgraded Las Vegas offense. It was a solid offensive debut for Kubiak, who came to Las Vegas after helping the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl as their offensive coordinator this past season. His team put up 317 yards of total offense on Thursday. And you can’t take much from a preseason opener, but Las Vegas’ offensive line should be much better in 2026 after dealing with a slew of injuries last season. Center Tyler Linderbaum got one of the biggest deals in free agency and upgrades the middle, and having tackle Kolton Miller healthy helps the pass protection. Even with emerging running back Ashton Jeanty, the Raiders were last in the NFL in rushing yards per game and yards per carry, but that won’t be the case in 2026. It was the Raiders’ offensive depth, though, that showed out (outside of Mendoza and Cousins) on Thursday. Bech, who the Raiders took in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, had three receptions, including the touchdown grab. Tight end Michael Mayer, a second-round pick in 2023, caught Cousins’ touchdown pass. 3. Love At First Glance? Mendoza wasn’t the only marquee rookie making his preseason debut Thursday, as Jeremiyah Love saw his first NFL action and impressed. The Cardinals running back had a spin move to the left on third-and-short in the red zone to set up one touchdown, and hurdled through the Raiders’ defense for a 15-yard gain just before halftime, providing one of the highlights of the night in the NFL. Love finished Thursday’s game with 58 yards on 11 carries in the first half. It’s easy to write off the Cardinals and Raiders as last-place teams in insanely difficult divisions, but both have talented young running backs and new offensive-minded head coaches in Kubiak and Arizona’s Mike LaFleur, so there’s reason for measured optimism. Arizona’s Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew went a combined 15 of 15 for 123 yards in the first half, with touchdown passes on all three drives.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports