LAS VEGAS — Brock Bowers isn’t 100% . That’s the obvious part.

The question becomes how much the Raiders’ star tight end can produce as he works his way through an injured knee.

He remains such an important piece of the offense.

Bowers was hurt in the team’s season opener at New England. And even though he played in losses to the Chargers and Commanders and is expected to be in the lineup against the Bears on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, he failed to make much of an impact in Weeks 2 and 3.

Bowers has nine receptions for 78 yards combined the past two games after catching five passes for 103 yards against the Patriots.

A lot can go into that. Quarterback Geno Smith is being pressured far too much behind an offensive line that is proving to be the Raiders’ weakest link.

There is every chance Smith just hasn’t had the opportunity to target Bowers as much as he and the team would prefer.

‘Frustrating at times’

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been working every week trying to be as healthy as I can for game day,” Bowers said after the team’s Week 3 loss to the Commanders. “You know, gotta be wearing the knee brace. It’s frustrating at times, but I mean, I want to play. I want to be out there with the guys, so I gotta do what I gotta do.”

Raiders coach Pete Carroll said Bowers will continue to wear the brace while playing for another couple weeks just to be safe.

This is what can be the toughest part for an elite athlete like Bowers: Your body knows what it can do when healthy but suddenly becomes limited with injury.

Things that were second nature are now more difficult to execute. You can’t always do what your brain is telling you to.

“Yeah, anytime you’re not performing to your maximum capabilities, I think you’re going to always try to find it. You’re going to try to find that and try to seek it,” Smith said. “But to me, from what I’ve seen, I think (Bowers) is doing a great job. And I think we just all have to do a better job of keeping him involved, getting him involved and then obviously doing a better job as a whole.

“I haven’t seen any frustration from him. I think, if he does have frustration, I think it’s internal, and he’s done a good job of keeping it internal. Obviously, you know he’s toughing through some things, and he’s playing really well, I think.

“We’ve just got to get him the ball. We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball and get him more involved so he can really feel good about what he’s doing. I think he’s the best tight end in the league and it’s my job to get him the ball, make sure that he is on point.”

Here’s another issue: The Raiders’ once deep tight end room is banged up. Bowers is playing hurt and Michael Mayer suffered a concussion against the Commanders.

Could break out

“I can’t quantify it, but I’d say it’s very stressful when you can’t do (everything you’re used to),” wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “You’re young. You know you can help the team. Brock is going to be all right. He’s going to have a long career in the NFL and make a lot of plays.”

Bowers shattered NFL and team rookie records a season ago with 112 catches for 1,194 yards, so don’t be surprised if he suddenly breaks out.

Could happen against the Bears.

But he’s not 100%. That’s the obvious part.

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