Why did Brock Bowers not play vs Cowboys last night? Antonio Pierce gives clarity on Raiders TE

Brock Bowers didn't suit up for the Las Vegas Raiders' second preseason game. Facing the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night, the team was without its top selection from the 2024 NFL Draft. That can be cause for concern, but head coach Antonio Pierce revealed what caused the rookie tight end to sit.

According to reporter Ryan Ward, Pierce said:

"Woke up the other morning with a little foot soreness. ... If you are not 100% healthy, you are not going to play."

Many NFL players don't play much, if at all, during the preseason to mitigate injury risk. Stars won't suit up at all, and other important players usually don't see a high snap count. The injury risk is too great, so even rookies who need reps sit out if there's a remote risk of injury.

Pierce said that Bowers was a little sore before the game, and there's no reason for him to suit up in a preseason game that doesn't matter if he's not completely healthy.

This does not seem to be cause for concern and was just a precautionary DNP for the Raiders. Brock Bowers should be just fine moving forward and might have even played yesterday if it had been a regular-season game.

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Injury updates for Brock Bowers, Davante Adams

Brock Bowers wasn't the only star pass-catcher that didn't play Saturday. The Las Vegas Raiders were also without former All-Pro wideout Davante Adams, who had tweaked something.

Davante Adams also missed the Raiders game on Saturday (Imagn)

Per Sporting News, Pierce played the same card with Adams that he did with Bowers. Any injury whatsoever means no playing time in the preseason. Pierce said:

"The other night when we had... the practice here at the stadium, (Adams) had an awkward movement where he just got sore. 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."

Fortunately, both players are low-risk moving forward. Pierce has exercised a lot of caution with his players in his first preseason as head coach.