Michael Mayer has spent most of his Raiders tenure fighting uphill. A second-round pick in 2023, he’s dealt with bad coaching, a rough offensive setup, injuries, a star in front of him at tight end in Brock Bowers, and even a stretch where he stepped away to handle his mental health. That’s a lot to navigate for any young player.
Now, though, the situation in Las Vegas looks completely different. The Raiders brought in Klint Kubiak, a respected offensive-minded head coach, strengthened the offensive line, and added two capable quarterbacks.
They also still have a wide receiver room that wasn’t really addressed, which leaves plenty of room for Mayer to become a bigger part of the passing game. And through training camp, that’s exactly what he’s done.
Bowers has understandably soaked up most of the attention. He’s been the constant headline, the name people can’t stop bringing up, the player with the kind of upside that changes an offense.
The third-year pro is expected to be the Raiders’ top passing-game option, and he keeps showing why. But his dominance has also made it easier to overlook how well Mayer has been performing right alongside him.
Through 10 training camp practices, Mayer has drawn a heavy share of the targets with Bowers and Ashton Jeanty around him, and by all accounts he’s delivered. The fourth-year pro has been steady, productive and impossible to knock off course. Even after busting his nose and missing a practice, he came right back and kept rolling.
Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins appears to be building a strong connection with Mayer, which makes sense given Cousins’ history with tight ends. Once padded practices arrived, Mayer kept standing out. He reportedly continued to shine, then returned and made immediate noise in last Friday’s team work, including a touchdown when he found himself wide open during a 12 personnel look.
Marcus Johnson summed up the buzz after practice: "Mayer will be a big part of this offense." Las Vegas even posted video of Mayer making a diving catch from Cousins, another example of how often he’s been flashing in camp.
He wasn’t done there. On Saturday, with Fernando Mendoza filling in for the suspended Cousins, Mayer connected again for a touchdown on what The Athletic’s Sam Warren described as a "scramble drill TD." Across 10 practices, there hasn’t been a negative report attached to Mayer.
That’s why his progress has been easy to miss. Bowers has been the loudest storyline in camp, but Mayer has quietly become one too.
Kubiak has already been clear about what Mayer can bring. Early in camp, he pointed back to Mayer’s Notre Dame tape and said, “I go back to watching Michael [Mayer] at Notre Dame, and he's always open, catches everything," Kubiak told reporters. "He’s extremely unselfish in the run game, so he's had a really positive start, to be expected.”
Bowers sees it too, and he likes what the pairing could become.
"I think those heavy 12, 21 personnels there's so much versatility, especially with Mike [Mayer] out there," Bowers said to the media. "He can do so many things, like running routes.
He can run routes really good. He runs with the ball really good.
He blocks extremely well. So, I'm excited to see how we incorporate him and what he does out there."
Mayer’s own view was right in line with that.
"Two big threats," Mayer said. "We could both block really well.
I think it's just going to be an interesting season in terms of that. I think we've just got to keep working hard, keep our head down.
Klint's got a plan. Whatever Klint's plan is for us, we're going to trust it and follow it, and we're going to do it to the best of our ability."
Tight ends coach Luke Steckel also made the case for both players as movable weapons.
"Two great players," Steckel said. "They're both versatile.
I don't think Mike gets enough credit as a receiver, and I don't think Brock gets enough credit as a blocker. So, we can really move them around in a lot of different ways and attack defenses in different ways."
Kubiak later went a step further, praising not just Mayer’s play but the way he’s carried himself.
“I see a leader emerging on offense. I’ll put it that way, simple as that," Kubiak said.
Mayer, for his part, isn’t getting ahead of himself. He knows the work still has to be done.
"I think it's on me, though. I need to be ready.
I need to know the offense like the back of my hand, and I need to keep my head down, and I need to work. I know there's going to be mistakes.
I can't let mistakes ruin the day. I can't let them ruin the rep, I can't let them ruin the period.
I've got to move on; mistakes happen. So I'm very, very excited for this season.
I just need to keep working hard, keep my head down, and good things are going to happen. Really good things are going to happen."
In Other News...
Kirk Cousins Responded To Camp Drama With A Statement Practice
Kirk Cousins did not let a tense training camp moment linger for long. After the Raiders quarterback room was jolted by an altercation with Maxx Crosby, Cousins came back to practice and delivered one of his strongest sessions, showing the kind of steadiness the team has been looking for as the competition at quarterback continues to settle.
The timing mattered, too, because Cousins has been stacking better days than rookie Fernando Mendoza, who has had his share of ups and downs while working through the offense. Even with Mendoza still getting chances to push the battle, Cousins looked composed and in control, offering a reminder that in camp, how a quarterback responds after turbulence can matter almost as much as the drama itself. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Davis Just Sent A Clear Message About The Raiders Direction
Mark Davis has spent plenty of time watching this franchise search for stability, so it stood out when he voiced confidence in the Raiders quarterback room and the direction it is taking. The mix includes veteran Kirk Cousins, rookie Fernando Mendoza and Aidan OConnell, giving Las Vegas a blend of experience and upside at the most important position, and Davis tone suggested he believes the group is at least pointing toward something more settled than the usual churn.
The bigger signal may have come from the way head coach Klint Kubiak handled a practice altercation between Cousins and Maxx Crosby. By sitting both players out of the next practice, Kubiak sent a message about accountability before anything else, and Davis has taken that kind of structure as part of the current leaderships appeal. After years of uneven results, the Raiders owner appears ready to judge this stretch by the tone being set as much as by what happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Fans Will Read Into This Strange Maxx Crosby Incident
A routine Raiders training camp session got a little too real when Maxx Crosby struck quarterback Kirk Cousins twice on his throwing arm, turning practice into a brief confrontation and giving everyone on the sideline something to talk about. Crosby has spent the summer as one of the biggest names on the roster, and any hard edge from a player like that tends to get noticed fast, especially when it involves a quarterback in camp.
The strange part is how quickly the moment drifted beyond the field. Former NBA player Joe Johnson floated a theory that Crosbys actions were tied to a desire to land with the Cowboys, a notion that has not been confirmed and sits squarely in rumor territory. Crosby, for his part, has denied that trade speculation has changed his focus and remains with the Raiders, but once a scene like this leaks out, it is the sort of thing Cowboys fans are going to keep reading into. [Read more 🡒]