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Raiders Mailbag: Could Brock Bowers, Elandon Roberts injuries affect gameplan for primetime matchup?

Sep 11, 2025 at 01:22 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Carlos Andrade asked:

"Any news on Bowers?"

All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers exited Sunday's game against the New England Patriots with a knee injury.

Before leaving the game, his impact was felt in a big way to the tune of 103 receiving yards on five catches. While only in his second season, it was his third career game with at least 100 yards.

"Brock is a tremendous asset," Geno Smith said postgame. "He gives us the advantage in personnel because he's just a tremendous player all around. And so D coordinators, they've got to figure out how they want to guard him, and we've got to adjust to it."

His availability would mean a lot to a Raiders squad riding the wave of their Week 1 victory and heading into a showdown against a tough Los Angeles Chargers defense. While Bowers said postgame he felt there were no concerns heading into Week 2, we'll know more about the extent of his status after the team's first practice Thursday and the subsequent injury report.

"I'm not sure. We'll see," Bowers said Thursday of his game status. "We'll see how it's feeling throughout the week, but I'm hoping to play."

In the case Bowers won't be ready for Monday Night Football, Michael Mayer is capable of filling in after four catches for 38 receiving yards against the Patriots.

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Ricardo Lopez asks:

"Can you go over the LB positions – who played what last week and if Roberts misses time who steps in and where?"

The Raiders' starting off-ball linebackers consisted of Elandon Roberts, Devin White and Germaine Pratt. However, things went astray early with Roberts suffering an elbow injury in the first half.

White stepped over to MIKE linebacker and delivered, leading the Raiders in solo tackles (eight) along with an 83.9 tackling grade from Pro Football Focus.

"He was a hammer. He looked good," Carroll said about White. "I was really excited that his presence was so obvious. He's had a couple years where his game hasn't been at that level that he played at yesterday, and so, he's just getting going and had fun playing. He handled a lot of communication, and he hit the heck out of it. That was really encouraging, really fired up for him."

Along with White, linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Jamal Adams stepped in and played a big part in the second half. The two linebackers combined for 39 reps, with Adams recording three solo tackles and a quarterback hit. His 90.9 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus was also the highest of any Raider from Week 1.

"Tommy was the one that had to answer the call because he came in [for Roberts]," Carroll said. "Jamal was in and out of the game anyway as we were rotating him through. I thought Tommy did a really good job of jumping out there, communicating, doing right, picking up and not letting that be a factor. Jamal played a nice game too. He was active and moving around. But I really credit Tommy with coming off the bench. It's hard to do that and play as actively as he did."

Pete Carroll addressed Roberts injury status before Thursday's practice saying, "he's not looking at this game like he can't play." However if he's unable to suit up, it's presumptive Eichenberg and Adams will step into larger roles to complement White and Pratt.

CenTex Raider asked:

"Will Raiders continue with deep throws? Hitting on nine was huge."

If we know anything about Geno Smith, it's that he likes to stretch the field.

From 2022-2024, Smith completed 95 Big Time Throws (BTT), according to Pro Football Focus. He had two more BTTs in Sunday's game, one of which was a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tre Tucker.

His nine completed passes for 20+ yards against the Patriots tied for the most in a single game by a Raiders quarterback since 1991.

"That's how we want to play football," Smith said. "We want to make sure that we make the right reads. I want to make sure that I'm making the right decisions and getting the ball into the hands of the play makers. We got a lot of great players, and that's something we can take advantage of. So, I'm going to spread the ball around, if need be, but I'm going to find the open guy first and foremost."

While Smith has proven his arm strength and accuracy can lead his team to victory, a more balanced attack would be ideal. The Raiders only rushed for 56 yards last Sunday, with 2025 first-rounder Ashton Jeanty averaging only two yards a carry. A more efficient ground game could amplify the passing game even more. Considering the Silver and Black have speedster wideouts Tucker and Dont'e Thornton Jr. at their disposal, it feels the deep ball is here to stay in Las Vegas.

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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) arrives to the regular season away game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.