As the Las Vegas Raiders gave their quarterbacks one last shot to secure the starting job ahead of the 2024 regular season, the offense didn't have two key weapons on Saturday night in wide receiver Davante Adams and tight end Brock Bowers.
Adams' absence was particularly noteworthy, as he had stated he didn't want to play in the preseason before head coach Antonio Pierce made it quite clear that every healthy player would suit up.
But, according to Pierce, Adams' absence was indeed injury-related, as he said the star wide receiver tweaked something in practice during the week. As for Bowers, he's dealing with a foot issue.
"The other night when we had... the practice here at the stadium, (Adams) had an awkward movement where he just got sore," Pierce said. "He missed practice on Thursday. And like I said, if a guy's not 100% healthy, I wasn't going to risk it. It's not worth it. He'll be back to practice come Tuesday."
Pierce revealed after the game that the starters won't play next week, so we've likely seen the last of Bowers in exhibition play. The Georgia product showed enough in preseason Week 1 to be confident that he'll be ready to contribute in a big way come Week 1, assuming his foot issue doesn't linger.
Adams not playing isn't really a big deal, either. After all, he's a proven commodity and is highly unlikely to be impacted by a lack of preseason reps.