Pete Carroll gets straightforward with what the plan is regarding an injured star on the Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders need Bowers and/or Michael Mayer

Bowers is the best tight end in the league, and it's not really up for debate. However, he hasn't had the start to his sophomore season he would like, and that's not because he's been playing badly. It's all because of a knee injury he sustained early in the season, which is obviously hampering his play.

They will need him or Mayer, or both, because of Bowers being hurt, and because Mayer is also hurt. If both are out, the next man up will be former Carolina Panthers TE Ian Thomas, and he's just not a big receiving threat. So, if you're the Raiders, you have to be hoping Mayer is available, too, after the concussion.

"That's yet to be determined. We're giving him all the time we can," Carroll told reporters regarding Mayer's availability. "Oh no, we love those guys. Yeah, we love having them out there, and it does hold us back a little bit. Fortunately, Ian [Thomas] does a really nice job and does all the same stuff so that we can share the load there. But we really like having Michael [Mayer] and Brock [Bowers] together."

The offense looked better last week, and they will need one or both of them to continue that in both areas of the offense.

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