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Raiders sending mixed signals on Brock Bowers’s availability

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Derek Hegna | Last updated Oct 4, 2025 9:18 AM ET

Brock Bowers’s second season with the Las Vegas Raiders is off to a strange start.

While Bowers has yet to miss a game this season, he has been dealing with the effects of a knee injury since Week One. However, Bowers had a full week of practices in the lead up to last week’s game versus the Chicago Bears. All signs were pointing to the Raiders having a healthy Bowers at their disposal for the first time since the start of the season.

However, what the Raiders are saying and doing with their star tight end this week have told two completely different stories.

Bowers’s week has only lead to more confusion among fans.

After returning for a limited practice on Wednesday, Bowers was held out of practice on both Thursday and Friday.

Bowers has been given a questionable injury tag heading into Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, but the lack of practice time would suggest that him sitting out would be on the table. However, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll suggested that this was by design, and that Bowers is still expected to play.

#Raiders HC Pete Carroll says TE Brock Bowers (knee) will be listed as questionable but ‘is planning on playing,’ despite missing two straight practices.

“We think he’s playing, but we wanted to make sure and rest him.” pic.twitter.com/KCIrqgEg93

— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) October 3, 2025

While Bowers still represents a significant threat in the Raiders offense, it is clear that the lingering injury is having an effect on his performance this season.

Sitting on a 1-3 start to the season, the Raiders are in desperate need of a victory to turn things around in their favor. However, the team also does not want to risk their best offensive weapon on a season that could quickly be circling the drain. It would be no surprise if the Raiders rest Bowers at some point if the injury persists, but doing so would come off as a sign that they would be punting the season away.

The Raiders are in a delicate balancing act with Bowers, and how the season goes from this point could very well decide the direction they lean in regards to their star player.

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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