News broke on Wednesday that Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers underwent a meniscus procedure earlier this week and is expected to be sidelined for several games.
This is obviously not what Raiders fans wanted to hear a few days before their season opener against the Dolphins. But the implications of Bowers’ injury might extend past his actual recovery timeline, especially as it pertains to rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Las Vegas has made it clear that Kirk Cousins will be the team’s starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. However, considering that the Raiders won’t expect to contend for a playoff spot this season, the expectation is that Mendoza will take the starting job from Cousins at some point in the year.
The question is when that will happen. And there’s a world where Bowers’ injury accelerates Mendoza’s ascension to the Raiders’ starting quarterback job.
Not having Bowers is a tough blow for Las Vegas’ offense, as he’s its most dynamic playmaker (certainly in the passing game). Him being sidelined, even if for a game or two, could spell the difference between winning and losing. And the Raiders could already be out of the playoff race once he returns.
They have that favorable first game against the Dolphins at home, where they’re slight favorites. After that, Las Vegas plays the Chargers on the road, then the Saints on the road, then the Chiefs at home, and then the Patriots on the road.
Las Vegas will be underdogs in all of those games after Miami, and it’s not hard to imagine the team emerging 1-4 in that stretch. Then the Raiders play the Bills and the Rams, who are two Super Bowl favorites.
It sounds like Bowers should be back well before this difficult stretch. But if their record looks ugly once he returns and the offense is stagnant under Cousins, fans will clamor for a look at Mendoza. And there would not be any reason for first-year head coach Klint Kubiak to deprive them of that look, as long as Mendoza is up to the task.
Perhaps that can serve as a silver lining in an otherwise depressing Wednesday for the Silver-and-Black.
