Raiders' Pete Carroll Gives Final Critical Updates Before Colts Battle

Q: Brock Bowers hasn't practiced for two straight days. Are you concerned about his availability for Sunday? 

Head Coach Pete Carroll: "We figure he's playing. We think he's playing, but we wanted to make sure and rest him throughout. And so, we have to list him as questionable, but he's planning on playing." 

Q: As far as Michael Mayer, what do you think of his availability as well? 

Coach Carroll: "That's yet to be determined. We're giving him all the time we can." 

Q: It hasn't been a large sample size, but how have you felt when you've had both of those guys on the field and doing two tight end sets? 

Coach Carroll: "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." 

Q: With Brock Bowers, was there a setback of some sort, or was it just kind of a change in the way you guys are managing him?

Coach Carroll: "No, we just want to make sure and slow it down a little bit and give him some extra rest. That's really what we try to do." 

Q: Obviously, we talked a little about Stone Forsythe stepping in. As you go through the week, how have you gauged how ready he is for this opportunity? 

Coach Carroll: "It's kind of been real quiet. Nothing's happened over there when we've tested him and tried him out in all situations. So, he's played like a vet, went right over there and took over. And so, we have nothing but good expectations right at this point." 

Q: You mentioned you wanted to get Jack Bech a little more work. What does he provide to you guys that maybe you aren't getting out of the receiving room? 

Coach Carroll: "He's a good all-around player. He's a good ball player. He does well on special teams. He's physical, and he has good sense, good awareness. You go all the way back to his freshman year in college, he led their team in receiving with a bunch of really good guys on that team. He's a natural football player, and so it does apply to all aspects of it. So, as we're going, his role hopefully will continue to grow, and we'll just give him more opportunities." 

Q: Maxx Crosby popped up on the injury report yesterday. How is he? 

Coach Carroll: "He was fine today. Yeah, he was fine." 

Q: I know this is about the time we thought Lonnie Johnson Jr. might be getting close to being back. Is there any update on him? 

Coach Carroll: "He's really stepped up his rehab. He's doing all kinds of stuff, some on the field, and what I'm hearing is he's well ahead of the schedule. So, it isn't yet that he was supposed to be ready. It was supposed to be three weeks from now or something like that. But he's in good shape. He's really positive and upbeat about it, and we're hoping to get him back and we're really looking forward to that."