The Las Vegas Raiders' offense hasn't looked like itself since Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Not so coincidentally, that is the last time star tight end Brock Bowers entered a game this year with a clean bill of health.
Las Vegas' offensive centerpiece has been dealing with a knee injury, and while the specifics and the severity are unknown, it has clearly hindered his play. Bowers seemed like he was on the right track last week, however, when he was finally a full participant in practice for the first time since the injury.
But this week, he seemingly suffered a setback, as he did not practice on either Thursday or Friday in any capacity. To most of Raider Nation, this felt like the kiss of death for his chances of playing in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Raiders' Brock Bowers ruled out for Week 5 matchup with Colts
Head coach Pete Carroll addressed the media on Friday afternoon, however, and provided some clarity about Bowers' status for Sunday. Well, not really. Raiders fans don't exactly know what to make of the veteran coach's comments.
"We figure he's playing. We think he's playing. But we wanted to make sure and rest him throughout (the week)," Carroll said. "We have to list him as questionable, but he's planning on playing."
The "planning on playing" part sounds good, but his status doesn't exactly sound certain. When asked about why the team decided to hold him out of practice this week or if Bowers suffered a setback, Carroll didn't exactly clarify things any further.
"We just want to make sure and slow it down a little bit and give him some extra rest," Carroll said. "That's really what we tried to do."
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If Bowers cannot go, the team will rely heavily on Michael Mayer, who most thought would return from the concussion protocol and be available in Week 5. Only Carroll threw a bit of cold water on that as well when asked if Mayer was playing.
"That's yet to be determined. We're giving him all the time we can," Carroll said.
Officially, Bowers, Mayer and cornerback Eric Stokes are all questionable for Sunday's game against the Colts. It seems like Maxx Crosby, Justin Shorter and Decamerion Richardson, who were all on the injury report as well, are ready to go and will be available.