Las Vegas Raiders Could Be Without Brock Bowers Again

Las Vegas Raiders Could Be Without Brock Bowers Again

According to ESPN reporter Ryan McFadden, Brock Bowers was once again unavailable to practice for the Raiders. This is once again another bad sign for Bowers, who’s currently recovering from a meniscus trim that kept him out of the Week 1 win against the Miami Dolphins. Reports have continued to stay positive around Bowers, with more ESPN reports suggesting that his injury is not “overly serious”. This report added that we could be seeing Bowers as early as this Sunday, when the Raiders take on the LA Chargers on the road. While this is an incredibly early game, this has suddenly become a huge game for the Chargers, who lost a shocking Week 1 game to the Arizona Cardinals. 

Even if Bowers were to miss this game, the Raiders offense still has quality offensive options available. Specifically at the tight end position, they have the recently extended Michael Mayer. He’s usually used more in the blocking game, but did record 6 receptions for 32 yards in the Raiders’ Week 1 win. And considering that Kirk Cousins was very unwilling to move the ball down the field (5.3 yards per attempt in Week 1), expect Mayer to continue to produce, albeit with low yardage totals. Obviously, most of the production on offense should be in the hands of Ashton Jeanty, who had 147 total yards with 102 of them coming on the ground last week. Jeanty also had 23 carries, putting him only behind Derrick Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs for most carries in Week 1. 

What Happens if Bowers is Out?

The Raiders are very likely to lose this game regardless of Bowers’ status, and being without him should only make the result worse. While the Chargers Week 1 performance was embarrassing, they are still the better team than the Raiders at this point. A win in Week 1 against what could be the worst roster in the NFL in Miami is not going to change that. In the event that Bowers returns this weekend, it could be a closer result than what we expect.