After undergoing a meniscus trim on Tuesday, the Raiders are expected to be without Brock Bowers for at least a game or two, and that means Michael Mayer could be in line for a huge role in week 1 against the Dolphins.
Mayer is a former second-round pick, who many believed was the top tight end in the 2023 draft class, and flagship radio host ‘JT the Brick’ believes the former Notre Dame tight end can do almost everything Bowers can do.
“Mike Mayer needs to step up in a big way. Michael Mayer can do almost everything that Brock Bowers can do. I’ve been saying that from before Brock Bowers got to the league. Michael Mayer can do everything that Bowers can do,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show on Wednesday.
“Now, Bowers is better. Bowers is better. But I’ve been telling everybody who would listen to put Mike Mayer out in aggressive situations and let him be a tight end, not a blocking special teams player. I’ve been saying that. Now we got a chance for Big Mike to step up. Whatever the play package is for Brock, run it to Mike.”
“Now, will he have the shifty-ness of Brock? Maybe, but I think he has the ability to do everything. Can he run an out route? 12 yards. Can he run an in route? Yeah, he can do everything. So that’s what I believe is going to be the issue here. I don’t predict injuries and I don’t talk about injuries until they tell me to talk about them. But I could tell you this much. The Raiders, as of now, I’m not saying as of today… [it] looks like they dodged some big news with [Ashton] Jeanty and Bowers. They look like they’ve dodged some really bad news.”
Whether he is comparable to Bowers or not, Mayer is finally stepping into a role that lines up with where the Raiders picked him in the draft.
Bowers injury dates back to before August 17?
For Bowers, this is the second year in a row he has dealt with a knee injury in September, and for everyone else, Tuesday’s news was a reminder to do your own thinking when it comes to reports in the news.
On August 17, a video posted by Levi Edwards of the Raiders’ media team, showed Bowers slightly favoring his left knee with a good amount of tape over his knee cap.
Bowers looked to be working with a trainer on the sideline, but Edwards told his followers on social media not to be “too concerned.”
At the time it seemed like a reasonable assessment, especially after Edwards shared that Bowers had dominated the day at practice.
But sometimes it’s best to trust your eyes. Even a “minor” knee issue is concerning for a player that moves with the size and speed of Bowers…
Did the Raiders and Klint Kubiak try to hide Bowers’ injury?
At Wednesday’s press conference, Kubiak said he expected everyone to “have all our guys ready on Sunday” but only a short time later it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Bowers was going to miss time.
Presumably, Kubiak would have known Bowers had surgery a day earlier, so it would be interesting to know why he said what he said.
Maybe Kubiak didn’t have all the details?
x: @raidersbeat
JT is so dumb. Mayer is a solid player but he’s not in Bowers universe in regards to athleticism