And no storyline will be more closely monitored than who is winning the starting quarterback battle. "When we go out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback," Kubiak stated. Cousins is the starter "when we go out to practice tomorrow," but not the declared starting quarterback for the season. The Raiders are perfectly fine with starting Cousins to begin the year and letting the rookie redshirt and learn from the side. But if you read between the lines a bit and notice what Kubiak wouldn't say, you'd realize that he said it all about the Raiders' quarterback battle, which is that it isn't close to over yet.