Raiders’ Pete Carroll Makes Maxx Crosby & Brock Bowers Announcements on Friday
The Las Vegas Raiders are running out of chances to turn the season around. Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars should be a prime opportunity to get another win.
While the Jaguars have been a better team than the Raiders, it was just revealed that star rookie Travis Hunter won’t be playing due to injury. That’s a huge blow. Plus, the Raiders are finally getting healthy.
Tight end Brock Bowers has missed three games due to a knee injury, and defensive end Maxx Crosby popped up on the injury report this week. Luckily, Las Vegas won’t be without either of them.
During his Friday press conference, head coach Pete Carroll announced that both Bowers and Crosby will be playing. Defensive tackle Adam Butler is also set to play. Carroll noted that the only players who aren’t in line to play are the ones who are on Injured Reserve.
This is good news for the Raiders, as they’ve been battling injuries all season. If the Raiders can’t beat a banged-up Jaguars team at home coming off the bye week, it’s clear they have bigger problems than injuries, so they can’t afford to lose in Week 9.
Bowers Draws Praise From Jaguars
Bowers had the greatest season for a rookie ever last season, but hasn’t been able to make an impact in Year 2. Now that he’s healthy, he could be looking to make up for lost time.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen knows his team will have its hands full on Sunday.
“I had a lot of experience with him in the SEC at Kentucky,” Coen said, via Raiders.com. “Played against him multiple times, thought he was extremely advanced at that time. For a second-year player, he gets in and out breaks so well. I know he was like 40 something inch vertical coming out of high school. He is a very good athlete. He’s what you define as a football player, I mean, he just has a knack for getting open. He’s harder to tackle than maybe just looking at the tape. He’ll break tackles, drag people down, he knows how to wiggle and separate and also the contested catch ability. Very good player, have a lot of respect for him.”
Coen Talks Crosby
Crosby hasn’t been getting a lot of help on defense, but he’s still finding ways to make an impact. The Jaguars won’t be sleeping on him when the two teams play.
“He is creature for sure,” Coen said of Crosby. “Just the strain, the relentless effort, the batted balls, they lead the National Football League right now in tipped balls as a defense, as a group. So long that initially, like if your eyes as a quarterback are maybe at your number one read right away and it’s like quick game or whatever it is, he does a great job of getting his hands on balls and then if it is a little bit of a longer developing pass play, well that’s when you just kind of see him relentlessly strain. He’s just so long in terms of his legs, the bounding, his ability to get to the quarterback. And then the way he’s played the run, they’ve played the run well as a defense all year as well.”
The Lightning could decide to promote some of them on the NHL roster
The Tampa Bay Lightning (5-4-2) are getting back in their groove, winning four straight games after their 2-1 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars. While the Lightning look to rise to the top of the Atlantic Division their American Hockey League (AHL, Syracuse Crunch) and ECHL teams (Orlando Solar Bears) are heading in opposite directions. The Crunch are cruising, with a 6-1-0-0 record, which leads the North Division, while the Solar Bears own a dreadful 1-4-0-0 record, allowing twice as many goals (20) as they’ve scored.
Even still, there are standouts littered in the minors for Tampa Bay, and in some instances, the Lightning could decide to promote some of them on the NHL roster.
AHL: Jakob Pelletier, F
The Lightning signed Pelletier to a three-year contract last offseason in the hopes he’d reach his massive upside. At 24 years old, the 2019 first-round pick scored four goals and seven assists with a plus-10 rating in 24 games for the Calgary Flames last season. That’s an average of about 14-24-38 over a full season, and he was usually playing bottom-six minutes.
Unfortunately, the Flames traded the winger to Philadelphia for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost in late January. Pelletier couldn’t get back his offensive spark in Philadelphia. With the Flyers, he scored just three goals, five assists, and eight points in 25 games, sometimes being healthy scratched. When he was due $840,000 on a qualifying offer on a two-way deal, the Flyers non-tendered him, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Pelletier hasn’t made his debut with the Lightning, but with the Crunch, he’s thriving. Through seven games, Pelletier has notched four goals and five assists, with a plus-1 rating. He currently leads the Crunch in points and goals. In a 5-2 win against the Hershey Bears, Pelletier had two goals and an assist.
If Pelletier keeps this pace up, the Lightning could recall him, and he could be an injection of youth Tampa Bay desperately needs right now.
AHL: Dylan Duke, F
Dylan Duke is another young talent the Lightning hope can evolve into an NHL-caliber forward. He was drafted 121st overall by Tampa Bay after a stellar career with the Michigan Wolverines. In 2023-24, Duke was on a team with NHL draftees Gavin Brindley, Rutger McGroarty, and Seamus Casey. However, Duke led the team in goals (26) and finished third in points (49). Overall, he finished with 54 goals and 46 assists in 123 games.
Duke has just one goal in the NHL level so far, but he is turning a new leaf with the Crunch this season. He’s scored one goal and added six assists for seven points through seven games. He is currently in the top 20 in assists in the AHL level.
It appears Duke could be taking a big jump from his rookie season, when he scored 20 goals, 20 assists, and 40 points through 62 games. Like Pelletier, Duke is another young forward the Lightning are looking to develop into an NHL-caliber player. Unlike Pelletier, Duke is just 22, and he has time to grow and become another late-round NHL contributor for the Lightning.
ECHL: Spencer Kersten, F
It’s hard to find a standout for the Solar Bears this season, but there’s one player who’s been tried and true for them. Spencer Kersten continues to shine for Orlando.
Kersten spent four years with Princeton University and one year at Bowling-Green University before signing with the Solar Bears in 2024. In his rookie season, Kersten shined, recording 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points through 60 games. That earned him a spot on the 2024-25 ECHL All-Rookie team.
This year, Kersten has increased his scoring output, with three goals and three assists for six points through five games. He is on pace to record 86 points this season.
That could earn Kersten a recall to the AHL. His strong play with Orlando earned him brief stints with the Crunch and the Belleville Senators on loan. He scored one goal in nine games with the Crunch, but he could be in line for more opportunities in the AHL if he keeps up this pace.
