Sunday was a momentous day in the Las Vegas Raiders' history. It marked the NFL debut of the 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick, quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Over time, the young signal-caller may well become the sort of franchise guy the Raiders have been sorely missing for years.
But let's keep this to a short-term perspective for now. As the Raiders squared off against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks at home, Mendoza lost his best offensive weapon for the entire second half.
After suffering an ankle injury in the first half, All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers was officially ruled out for the rest of the game when Las Vegas took the field for the second half. The exact extent of Bowers' injury is unknown at the time of this writing,
and ruling him out might just be a matter of precaution.
Nonetheless, that's a brutal loss for Mendoza's Raiders in his first-ever NFL start:
Raiders now have ruled out TE Brock Bowers due to his ankle injury.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2026
Before he left the game with this new injury, Bowers had 48 receptions for 658 yards and six touchdowns so far this season. We'll see how the Raiders try to survive without him, and we will update this article with more information once we know more about his status.
Who is Brock Bowers' backup on the Raiders?
Veteran tight end Michael Mayer is listed as Bowers' backup on the Raiders' official depth chart. Mayer is in his fourth NFL season after being selected during the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Brock Bowers injury update: What happened to the Raiders TE?
