How Returning Raiders Will Boost Chip Kelly's Offense

The Las Vegas Raiders have gradually gotten healthier.

Sep 28, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) runs the ball during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders enter Week 9 much healthier than they entered their most recent outing.

To watch Brock Bowers' comments, view below

Raiders Getting Healthy

The last time the Raiders took the field was against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road, minus three of their best players. The results showed that like most offenses, the Raiders are a shell of themselves without their best players on the field.

This undoubtedly made life tougher for the entire Raiders' offense in Week 7.

The Bye Week gave the Raiders a chance to get healthy. As Week 9 approaches, the Raiders expect the return of Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers. On Thursday, Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly explained what it was like calling plays without his top talent.

“I think anytime you don't have Jakobi [Meyers], anytime you don't have Brock [Bowers], anytime you don't have Kolton [Miller] - three of your top players - that has to impact you. But everybody in the NFL deals with the same thing. I don't think there's anybody right now that's playing with the same starting lineup that they started the season with, you know, so that's just part of the deal," Kelly said.

Aug 23, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

“There's that fine balance of getting the backups ready, but you only have x amount of reps in practice because the rosters are so much different than college. In college, you've got 120 guys on a team, in the NFL, you have half of that.

"You have to be conscious of how many reps can you get. And if you're going to get those reps, if it's a 10-play rep period, how many go to the ones, how many go to the twos. So, you've got to train your ones and hope your twos are learning from that situation, but they haven't been thrown into that just because of the limited amount of reps. Walkthroughs are an important part of that," Kelly said.

Las Vegas Raiders Brock Bowers | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

"So, Jakobi is a big part of what we do. Not having him was an issue, but it's the same. No one feels sorry for you. No one says, 'Hey, you've got a couple guys out, so we'll give you a couple points before you start the game.' It just doesn't work that way. So, you just have to adjust and do what you can do with what you have."

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