Rapoport: Brock Bowers expected to make season debut Sunday at the Saints

Brock Bowers is expected to make his season debut Sunday at New Orleans, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday night. The tight end has missed both Raiders wins after a meniscus trim on his left knee earlier this month, a procedure an AP source said at the time would cost him a week or two. He returned to practice Friday as a limited participant and, per Rapoport, needs to get to full work by the end of this week. CBS Sports and theScore both carried the report.

The team's own paperwork agrees. The unofficial Week 3 depth chart Las Vegas put out Tuesday lists Bowers first at tight end, ahead of Michael Mayer and Ian Thomas. Unofficial is doing real work in that sentence, and Friday's practice report is the only number that settles anything. But clubs do not move a man to the top of the chart as decoration.

What he walks back into is the part worth studying. The offense got to 2-0 without him. Kirk Cousins has 413 yards and six touchdowns on just under 68 percent passing through two games, by the team's own accounting, three of those scores in the 26-14 win at the Chargers on Sunday. Cody White caught two balls and both were touchdowns. Matt Gay is 3 for 3 from beyond 50, including a career-long 59.

The defense is where the surplus is. The Raiders lead the league with eight sacks and rank first in pressure rate at 50 percent while blitzing on 7.4 percent of dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. That is pressure bought with four rushers, which is the cheap kind. Rookie corner Hezekiah Masses intercepted Justin Herbert twice and gave up two catches for 16 yards on six targets, and is up for Pepsi Rookie of the Week. Klint Kubiak called him "instinctual" and said he has been making plays on the ball since April.

An opinion, labeled as one: the 2-0 is earned but the profit margin is turnovers, and turnovers do not compound. NFL.com nudged Las Vegas up seven spots to No. 22, which reads like an insult and is about right.

New Orleans is 1-1 after beating Baltimore 24-17. Two things to watch this week: whether Bowers practices in full Friday, and Cody White, who has used two of his three allowed practice squad elevations. The Raiders can rent him once more or sign him.