{"id":37963,"date":"2026-08-11T05:02:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37963"},"modified":"2026-08-11T05:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:02:50","slug":"brock-bowers-returns-to-form-at-raiders-camp-as-michael-mayer-shows-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37963","title":{"rendered":"Brock Bowers returns to form at Raiders camp as Michael Mayer shows progress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/10\/Raiders_Camp_Football_36962_s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>HENDERSON, Nev. \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/brock-bowers\/\">Brock Bowers<\/a> is back to resembling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/brock-bowers\/\">Brock Bowers<\/a>, finding ways to get open on seemingly every play, appearing in the Raiders\u2019 training camp like he could again be one of the NFL\u2019s top tight ends.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/michael-mayer\/\">Michael Mayer<\/a> is showing he might finally be on track to live up to the expectations of a second-round draft pick in 2023 out of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n<p>They could potentially be as good as any pair of tight ends in the league, their different abilities complementing each other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great tandem to have on the field,\u201d Las Vegas tight ends coach Luke Steckel said. \u201cI use this word a lot that they\u2019re both versatile. I don\u2019t think Mike gets enough credit as a receiver, and I don\u2019t think Brock gets enough credit as a blocker. So we can really move them around in a lot of different ways and attack defenses in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bowers put together the greatest rookie season for a tight end in league history after he was drafted 13th overall out of Georgia in 2024. His 1,194 yards receiving broke Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka\u2019s 63-year-old record for a rookie tight end, and Bowers\u2019 112 receptions set the standard for any first-year receiver. He was second to Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>But Bowers injured his left knee in last year\u2019s season opener at New England and wasn\u2019t the same after that. Unable to get separation from opposing defenders, he was limited to 64 receptions for 680 yards, though Bowers scored seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast season was definitely tough, especially first game getting banged up a little bit,\u201d Bowers said. \u201cDefinitely had to persevere and fight through some things throughout the year. We\u2019ll see how it goes this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>He\u2019s back, at least in practice, to playing like the nearly unguardable receiver from two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people were born to play football, and I think he\u2019s one of them,\u201d Steckel said. \u201cYou could put a blindfold on him and he would find a way to get open. He just has such a great feel for space out there in zone coverage. He\u2019s got great release plans versus man-to-man when they come down and press him. But it all starts with the mental aspect. He\u2019s an extremely smart player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mayer came to Las Vegas with his own high expectations after the Raiders used a premium draft pick on him. While Mayer has shown flashes in three seasons, he hasn\u2019t quite made the impact that often comes with such a selection.<\/p>\n<p>He has 83 catches for 788 yards and three TDs in his career, and availability has been an issue. Mayer has missed seven games due to a variety of injuries and was out an additional six games in 2024 because of personal reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Mayer said he was hopeful about this season, largely because of Steckel\u2019s return to his third year in the organization as well as the arrival of coach Klint Kubiak and the offense he is installing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to know the offense like the back of my hand, and I need to keep my head down and I need to work,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cI know there\u2019s going to be mistakes. I can\u2019t let mistakes ruin the day, I can\u2019t let them ruin the rep, I can\u2019t let them ruin the period. I\u2019ve got to move on, mistakes happen. I\u2019m very, very excited for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His play in camp indicates Mayer has plenty to be excited about.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe this will be his breakout season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he\u2019s had the best training camp I\u2019ve seen him have in my short time with him,\u201d Steckel said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited to see what he does this year for himself and for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Cousins shines in return<\/h3>\n<p>Quarterback Kirk Cousins was sharp in his return to practice Monday. He and defensive end Maxx Crosby were held out of team drills on Saturday because of their skirmish in Friday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n<p>Both players appeared to be letting the other hear it during one team drill Monday, but briefly hugged afterward.<\/p>\n<h3>McCoy getting closer to game action<\/h3>\n<p>Kubiak hasn\u2019t announced how he will divide playing time when the Raiders host Arizona on Thursday night in their preseason meeting, but rookie cornerback Jermod McCoy figures to receive his first game action in nearly two years when he played for Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Thought to be a first-round talent, a torn ACL dropped McCoy to the fourth in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve really played football,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cSo I\u2019m trying to treat this like getting myself back to where I was, and I feel like I\u2019m almost there.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Injury updates<\/h3>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Defensive end Kwity Paye returned to practice, but did not participate in team periods. Fellow defensive end Keyron Crawford was back, but in a red no-contact jersey. Wide receiver Dont\u2019e Thornton Jr. remained out. All three players are dealing with undisclosed injuries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"permission\" style=\"padding-top: 25px;\">\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HENDERSON, Nev. \u2014 Brock Bowers is back to resembling Brock Bowers, finding ways to get open on seemingly every play, appearing in the Raiders\u2019 training camp like he could again be one of the NFL\u2019s top tight ends. Michael Mayer is showing he might finally be on track to live up to the expectations of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/10\/Raiders_Camp_Football_2733__c0-215-5156-3222_s1200x700.jpg?3f1ba249324a54540f2cb6c7d3888cce4067bdd1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}