The Las Vegas Raiders escaped with a win to kick off the 2025 NFL season against the New England Patriots. They were dealt a tough hand, having to travel to the East Coast in Week 1, but the Silver and Black pulled out a victory in Pete Carroll's debut with the franchise.
They accomplished this despite star tight end Brock Bowers going down with an injury near the end of the third quarter. He never returned to the matchup, but backup Michael Mayer was able to fill in and keep the team afloat. He even caught a crucial pass on 4th-and-1 to extend a late scoring drive.
While Mayer is a great talent and should loom large in the Las Vegas offense this season, Raider Nation has been desperately awaiting an update about Bowers. Although he assured fans that his injury was nothing serious after the Patriots game, an official update was needed.
Pete Carroll says Brock Bowers "looks fine" at walkthroughs
On Thursday, Carroll provided just that when speaking to the media. A reporter initially asked a question about Elandon Roberts' elbow injury, which the veteran linebacker sustained in Week 1. But Carroll accomplished two things at once by providing an update about both Roberts and Bowers.
"[Roberts] is not looking at this game like he can't play. Just like Brock, they're not looking like that at all. They think they're playing. So, we'll see what happens, but they gotta practice through the week and make it through it. Just in the walkthroughs and all that already, they look fine," Carroll said. "They're gonna do what we ask them to do. They've already got through the walkthroughs and done that. We're gonna take them day by day. I would expect before the week is over that they would [practice]."
Bowers also told Jesse Merrick that he is feeling a little better. While he is not certain about his status and needs to see how it feels throughout the week, he is "hoping to play" against the Chargers in Week 2.
This should allow Raider Nation to take a sigh of relief, as it seems that both Roberts and Bowers are on track and want to play. Given that the game is on Monday, it gives them an extra day to get healthy, but also, it gives both coordinators more time to prepare if neither of these starters is in the lineup.
RELATED: This Raiders rookie had an NFL debut to forget in Week 1 vs. Patriots
Both of their replacements performed well, as Mayer arguably had his best professional game thus far, and Tommy Eichenberg filled in admirably at middle linebacker. But there is no doubt that Las Vegas is a better team with both Bowers and Roberts in the lineup.
Especially against a stout team like the Los Angeles Chargers, who will come to Allegiant Stadium for a Week 2 Monday Night Football matchup, the Raiders will need all the reinforcements they can get.
It will be interesting to see how the injury report shakes out as the week progresses, but right now, the fan base should feel confident in the prospect of these two players participating in primetime on Monday.