Marcus Mariota has believers in Raiders’ Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock

It’s no secret Raiders coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock like quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was signed to a one-year deal in March to back up incumbent Derek Carr.

“If you’re Marcus Mariota and you want to know what the general manager of the Raiders thought about him before he came out, or what Jon Gruden thought about him before he came out, all he’s got to do is go back and check public record,” Mayock said. “I mean, he went through Gruden’s quarterback camp on television. I had him as the top quarterback in that draft. He knows that both of us believed in him coming out and still believe in him.”

The Raiders offer Mariota a fresh start under two new bosses who were firm believers in him four years ago after assessing him during the draft process when both were part of the media.

Mariota arrives in Las Vegas a bit of a broken quarterback after a series of injuries and multiple coaching changes over his four seasons with the Tennessee Titans. But as new beginnings go, he is in a good place. At the very least, he’ll have time to heal body and spirit.

“He’s got to get healthy,” Mayock said. “We got to rebuild him a little bit to get his confidence back. Build him up from the ground up. It’s going to take a little while I think just to get him healthy and where he wants to be. But we’re excited about the quarterback room.”

There also seems to be no confusion about his role. “I thought Marcus did a great job with the first couple interviews he had, just talking about where he was, which is he wants to support Derek and he wants to become the best version of Marcus Mariota that he can become,” Mayock said.

“That’s the way we look at it. … in the meantime, we love what we have with Derek Carr, so we’re real happy with our quarterback room.”

Cornering the cornerbacks

When the Raiders’ free-agent deal with veteran cornerback Eli Apple fell through, it created a need opposite Trayvon Mullen, who established himself as a quality starter last year with a strong finish to his rookie season .

The Raiders could look to fill the need in the draft, with their second first-round pick at No. 19. That said, the Raiders are eager to get a closer look at some of the young backups on the roster, such as fourth-round pick Isaiah Johnson and undrafted free agent Keisean Nixon.

“We feel like we got a bunch of talented young kids that we don’t know enough about yet,” Mayock said.

Moreau progressing

Second-year tight end Foster Moreau, who went down with a season-ending knee injury in December, is progressing nicely, according to Mayock. While contact with players has been affected by the COVID-19 restrictions, there has communication with players who are rehabbing injuries.

“Our medical people are allowed to talk to them, which they do,” Mayock said. “Foster is doing really well. … He’s been rehabbing at LSU. He’s ahead of schedule. If you know the kind of kid that Foster Moreau is, you know he’s working his tail off. If anybody can come back and be ready for training camp coming off that ACL, it’s going to be Foster.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.