It has been a season full of disappointment for the Las Vegas Raiders, but the two players who may be the most disappointed in their seasons are quarterback Geno Smith and tight end Brock Bowers. The latter hasn’t been as effective due to a knee injury in Week 1, while the former is tied for the NFL lead with 10 interceptions.
The Raiders are 2-5 and are coming off a game where the offense got shut out and didn’t get to 100 yards of total offense. There have been many calls for the team to bench Smith in favor of Kenny Pickett or Aidan O’Connell, if healthy, after the bye week.
It seems unlikely that the Raiders will make a move quite yet, and Smith should get some reinforcements with Bowers expected to return from injury. While things haven’t been going well, Bowers still thinks very highly of Smith and thinks the offense can figure things out.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a great guy. He’s a great locker room guy, too,” Bowers told Heavy Sports in a recent interview. “Really brings everyone together. And he’s a great quarterback and everything. I mean, had some unlucky breaks, obviously, early in the year. But I mean, that’s straightened out. We’re getting back on track.”
Greg Olson Talks Smith
Smith has been a very good quarterback for the previous three seasons. Some even saw him as a top-10 quarterback. Through seven games with the Raiders, there’s an argument that he’s been one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Quarterbacks coach Greg Olson has been working closely with Smith and believes that he’ll figure things out.
“He [Geno Smith] understands again; he has played for a long time. He understands the formula for winning football,” Olson said of Smith, via Sports Illustrated.
“He understands where we are in terms of the turnover margin, and he is a big part of it; we are all a big part of it. He has played through tough times, and he has been through adversity before at the quarterback position. He is going to battle back. And we have all the confidence in the world in him that he will battle back.”
Raiders Not Setting Smith Up for Success?
Smith hasn’t been playing well, but the Raiders also aren’t giving him much help. Bowers has been hurt, the wide receiver corps is struggling and the offensive line play has been poor. Plus, the Raiders’ offensive game plans haven’t been consistent.
Olson thinks the Raiders’ coaching staff needs to do a better job if the players are going to succeed.
“We gotta have a better job of putting our players in position to be successful,” Olson said. “It was kind of a snowball effect. We could not find the timing, the intent, and the purpose of plays, and getting in the right plays or getting bad plays, that is all. We will learn from it and grow and get better.
“The most important thing is maintaining focus on your job. Every position stays focused on that, then we get a chance to come together.”
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