Mendoza continues making strides, grows chemistry with Benson
The trust Fernando Mendoza has in his preparation and arm is becoming more apparent.
After going 10-of-16 for 97 yards and a touchdown Thursday, he continued to push the ball down the field in practice Sunday. This resulted in big chunk plays in the middle of the field to Albert Okwuegbunam Jr., Jack Bech and two in particular to rookie Malik Benson. This included Benson making arguably the catch of the day when high pointing a ball over Hezekiah Masses on a go-route.
“Time on task helps everybody gets better, that’s got to keep getting better,” Klint Kubiak said of Mendoza and Benson’s connection. “Malik has jumped in there with the ones at times as well, and he’s earned those reps, but he’s got to stay humble and stay hungry.”
It wasn’t a perfect day of practice for the rookie quarterback though, as he had a mishandled snap at the line of scrimmage along with the near interception to Eichenberg previously mentioned. Nevertheless, the No. 1 pick’s progress from the start of camp to now has been noticeable.
“I just want him to keep getting better,” Kubiak said. “Him, Aidan [O’Connell], Kirk [Cousins], all those guys, just keep improving. There’s not one thing we’re looking for, there’s a million things. But we got to get them focused and on the details of each play and take it one rep at a time, down to down. And if he has that mentality, as well as the other guys, they will continue to improve.”