NEW ORLEANS — Brock Bowers had a sneaky suspicion Sunday at Caesars Superdome that the first play for scrimmage for the Las Vegas Raiders might end with the football in his hands.
Playing for the first time this season, Bowers lined up wide right at the line of scrimmage — several yards away from cornerback Quincy Riley.
Bowers released when the football was snapped to quarterback Kirk Cousins, who fired it right to the third-year tight end.
Eight yards down, 108 to go.
Bowers finished his season debut with 10 receptions for 116 yards and a fourth-quarter 4-yard scoring catch in a 35-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints. A walking mismatch at 6-foot-4 and a first-team All-Pro in 2024, he’d missed his team’s Week 1 and 2 wins to recover from the left meniscus trim he underwent days before the season opener.
He said he felt “good” and played unbothered, flashing his customary strength and speed. As Raiders coach Klint Kubiak explained: “Brock has always been a guy we count on, but to come off an injury and play the way he did was very, very impressive. And we needed it. I’m not surprised by that with Brock.”
Bowers dominated training camp with his size and skill as the team’s top target despite the pain that nagged his left knee, necessitating the meniscus trim. He said he thought “it was kind of nothing” and hoped it would subside “at the start of the season, but … I just had to get done and get it right before the long stretch of the season.”
As Bowers rehabilitated, the Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers without him, manufacturing an efficient offense. Against the Dolphins, it was with the run. And against the Chargers, it was play-action passes. Against the Saints, it was doses of Bowers over and over and over again.
Because he’s fast and fluid at his size, Kubiak deployed him from multiple positions, sometimes wide, sometimes in the slot and even once in the backfield. His 8-yard gain preceded two more catches on the first drive for 18 and 11 yards, helping him settle and abrade the rust, not that there seemed to be any.
“Did a great job,” Cousins said of Bowers. “He’s a great player and it’s great having him back.
“You try to build a foundation through (training) camp, but there’s nothing like real game experience, and I still think that chemistry is building.”
By the first half’s end, Cousins and Bowers connected seven times for 87 yards, no connection more picturesque than their 15-yarder in the final minute. Cousins floated an outbreaker to Bowers, draped by New Orleans safety Jonas Sanker and unbothered as he toe-tapped in bounds to set up a tie-breaking field goal.
Then came a 20-yard back shoulder fade in the face of an 11-point third-quarter deficit, preceding running back Mike Washington Jr.’s touchdown run.
Then came his 4-yard touchdown catch.
“It was fun,” Bowers said at the postgame dais in a white sleeveless shirt, a black Raider cap atop his head and a satisfied smile across his face. “All the guys flying around out there.
“It was fun to be out there with all the guys. The O-line played hard. The receivers were running around catching balls and running hard.”
Bowers was, too.
“You can’t think about (injuries) when you’re out there,” he added. “I just kind of go out there and (my) body kind of takes over. You don’t really think. It’s fun.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
