The Las Vegas Raiders escaped with a 20-13 win in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season on the road against the New England Patriots. Not everything clicked for the Silver and Black, but they made enough halftime adjustments to separate in the second half and pull out the victory.
More impressive is that the Raiders did this without star tight end Brock Bowers in the fourth quarter. Fans did not see the injury happen, but Bowers apparently hurt his knee after a 38-yard catch and spent the rest of the contest going in and out of the blue medical tent.
Las Vegas and its fan base were holding their breath as they awaited an update on what exactly happened to their second-year star, and thankfully, Bowers provided an update, straight from the source.
Raiders' Brock Bowers claims he is fine after injury scare vs. Patriots
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Bowers told him that he was fine. He explained that he took a hit on the knee and came out of the game to get checked out, but there were no major concerns moving forward.
Phew. Raider Nation was hoping that they would avoid disaster with the centerpiece of their offense, and right now, it seems like they did. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore even noted that Bowers wanted to re-enter the game, but the training staff held him out.
This is just about the best news that the team and fan base can get regarding his injury. Bowers still recorded five catches on eight targets for 103 yards despite not playing in the entire fourth quarter on Sunday.
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To make matters even better, Mayer played well in Bowers' absence. He came alive in the fourth quarter and ended up with four catches for 38 yards, averaging 9.5 yards per reception with a long of 12 yards.
Obviously, the hope is that Bowers is 100% for the Raiders' Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. But Mayer looks fully capable of helping to keep the offense afloat in Bowers' absence.
Bowers will need to be careful and make sure that he takes care of his knee over the next eight days. But he seemingly avoided a major injury and proved once again on Sunday why he is the best tight end in the NFL.