The Las Vegas Raiders scuffled on offense in practice, but at least tight end Brock Bowers is playing well.
The Las Vegas Raiders are still struggling to put together something resembling an NFL offense, but tight end Brock Bowers continues to stack up strong practices as a main weapon, according to the latest camp update from Ryan McFadden of ESPN.
The Raiders defense has dominated practices for the most part so far, but Bowers gave them something to worry about during the latest round of 11-on-11 drills. He snagged a deep throw from quarterback Kirk Cousins as he slipped behind the defense, which wasn’t surprising since deep routes aren’t considered a big part of Bowers’ game.
The tight end actually had to stop running his route to wait for Cousins to launch the throw, and he also beat new linebacker Quay Walker multiple times in the middle of the field, according to McFadden.
The rest of the offense didn’t play all that well yesterday, and that summary might be kind. McFadden noted that there were several inaccurate throws and dropped passes, with quarterback Fernando Mendoza recording his second interception in camp so far after receiver Malik Benson dropped a pass and cornerback Darien Porter dove to make the catch.
Aidan O’Connell was also picked off twice, so this isn’t exactly the kind of déjà vu moment Raiders fans are looking for. The offense also stumbled during the two-minute drill, as rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses broke up a Cousins’ throw to receiver Tre Tucker, and Eric Stokes did the same on a throw to Benson. Two penalties topped off the performance, which couldn’t have made coach Klint Kubiak happy.
That also led to some mix-and-match substitutions on the offensive line, with Caleb Rogers and Jackson Powers-Johnson alternating reps at right guard. Tight end Michael Mayer returned to practice after hurting his nose on Wednesday.
The news on defense was mixed. Rookie DB Treydan Stukes got his first snaps with the first-teamers, and he had what McFadden called a “nice pass breakup” during his stint with the second team.
Cornerback Jermod McCoy got an off day as the Raiders continue to ease him into the secondary flow, but defensive lineman Keyron Crawford left practice early after colliding with fellow linemanMalcolm Koonce during the team drills.
The Raiders open their preseason schedule next Thursday against the Arizona Cardinals at home, so it’s getting late early when it comes to seeing the team in action. It sounds like it’s going to be a typical preseason slopfest, but it’s still worth looking forward to until we have to watch the actual product on the field.
