Fernando Mendoza may not be among the Indiana players heading to the White House later this month.

The new Las Vegas Raiders quarterback was asked Saturday if he had plans to join his teammates from the College Football Playoff-winning team to visit President Donald Trump on May 11. The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner said he might have an understandable conflict. 

“I believe May 11 is the first day of OTAs,” Mendoza said at a news conference on Saturday before briefly second-guessing himself on the date of the visit and the start of OTAs. “If it is on the first day of OTAs, like I said, I’m on the bottom of the totem pole here, I gotta prove myself, I can’t miss practice.”

While Indiana’s visit is set for May 11, Mendoza might be able to go if he isn’t required to be in Las Vegas for something else. According to the Raiders’ website, the first day of OTAs is the following Monday on May 18. Rookie minicamp began for the team on Friday and runs through Sunday. 

“I don’t have the calendar, but as a rookie, I don’t think that’s a good look and I want to try to best serve my teammates and I don’t know if that would be accomplishing that goal.”

Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft a week ago as the Raiders unsurprisingly took him ahead of anyone else. Ever since the Hoosiers beat Miami for the national championship in January — heck, even before that — Mendoza was considered the clear favorite to go No. 1 overall.

But that doesn’t mean that Mendoza will be starting in Week 1. The Raiders signed Kirk Cousins after he was released by the Atlanta Falcons to be the team’s bridge starter until new head coach Klint Kubiak feels Mendoza is ready.

“Yeah, I think that when we’re watching the film, we see Kirk Cousins operate at a very high level so I think it’s going to be very beneficial hearing him talk, observe and just being around him trying to get some osmosis from him in a way where I try to absorb information,” Mendoza said. “And I’m really looking forward to that relationship.”

Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix has been moved up by three hours.

The FIA and race organizers announced Saturday evening that the race, originally scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, would instead start at 1 p.m. ET. The decision was made with thunderstorms forecast for much of the afternoon in South Florida.

“This decision has been taken to ensure the least amount of disruption to the race, and to ensure the maximum possible window to complete the Grand Prix in the best conditions and to prioritize the safety of drivers, fans, teams and staff,” a statement said. 

Formula 1 races can be held in the rain, but can’t be held with lightning in the vicinity. And if heavy rain causes ponding on the track, that can also lead to dangerous conditions that F1 wants to avoid. Twelve years ago, F1 attempted to run the Japanese Grand Prix in heavy rain as a typhoon approached. Jules Bianchi’s car spun off the track and collided with a piece of heavy equipment. Bianchi suffered significant head injuries and died nine months after the crash. 

Kimi Antonelli won the pole for Sunday’s race on Saturday with a lap that beat Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. It’s the third consecutive pole position for Antonelli as he also searches for his third straight win. The 19-year-old F1 points leader won in China and Japan before F1 was forced to take the month of April off because of the Iran war and the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The decision to move up the Miami Grand Prix also coincides with the PGA Tour’s move to push up tee times for the Cadillac Championship at Doral just miles away. Players will tee off in threesomes on split tees early Sunday morning, with the leaders set to start their rounds approximately four hours earlier than originally scheduled in an attempt to avoid a significant weather delay.