HENDERSON, Nev. — Klint Kubiak’s Las Vegas Raiders have adopted a mantra for their many position battles this training camp: compete with each other, not against each other.Fernando Mendoza popularized the phrase when talking about his pairing with Kirk Cousins and the rest of the quarterback room. They’re working together to help the veteran Cousins succeed as the starter while also setting up the No. 1 pick Mendoza for a bright future. Other groups, like the defensive backs and wide receivers, have talked about raising each other’s level of play through competition as well.The amicability is extending to even the most results-driven position on the roster: kicker. Veteran Matt Gay and rookie Kansei Matsuzawa are in a tight race for the job, as special teams coordinator Joe Decamillis categorized their battle as “a legitimate competition.” But both talked about the joy they have being around each other.“He’s been awesome,” Gay said of Matsuzawa. “He’s way farther ahead than I was as a rookie, and he hits the ball great. We get along really, really nice. He’s definitely hit the ball really well, so obviously, yeah, it pushes me to keep hitting the ball well.”Matsuzawa on Gay: “Matt is an amazing guy, and I’m so happy to work with him. And he’s a great mentor, and I’m so grateful to have a veteran kicker like him. He has tons of experience in the NFL, a great kicker obviously, and competition is amazing.”Matsuzawa, nicknamed “The Tokyo Toe” during his All-American season with Hawaii last year, is angling to become the first Japanese-born player to ever take part in an NFL game. That prospect wouldn’t be possible without the Raiders, for two reasons. Matsuzawa was inspired to start kicking after attending the team’s 2018 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland. Eight years later, the Raiders made his NFL dream a reality, signing him as an undrafted free agent. Matsuzawa called joining the Raiders a “full-circle moment.”“It’s so beautiful,” Matsuzawa said. “I’ve been influenced by players, teams and the fans, and the Raiders always have a great fan base, and I was so excited to be cheering the players up together. But now I’m on the player side, so it’s really exciting.”Raiders players trending up, downSam WarrenGay, on the other hand, is angling to breathe new life into his NFL career after falling on hard times in 2025. He was a Pro Bowler with the Rams under Decamillis in 2021, but was cut three times last season before latching on with Las Vegas this spring. Gay hopes a reunion with Decamillis can help him return to the level he was at five years ago.“We get each other pretty well, and I think we vibe off each other really well. He knows kind of what I need,” Gay said of his coach. “I’d like to get back to that performance and that peak where I was in ’21, ’22 in L.A. I know that that’s still in me. I still have that.”