HENDERSON, Nev. — Even if there were considerably more losses than wins in recent seasons, the Las Vegas Raiders could at least count on having an elite special teams unit.
Not as much this fall.
Why is a bit of a mystery because most of the key pieces remain in place. Daniel Carlson has been the kicker since 2018, punter AJ Cole joined the team in 2019, and Tom McMahon became the special teams coordinator in 2022.
Even so, Las Vegas has struggled in seemingly every area of football’s so-called third phase, most notably having kicks blocked the past two weeks. Carlson’s 54-yard field-goal attempt to beat the Chicago Bears was blocked off the edge two weeks ago, and the Indianapolis Colts blocked a punt this past weekend — a play that also resulted in a sprained ankle for Cole — while routing the Raiders.
“It’s obviously frustrating when it doesn’t work out,” Carlson said Wednesday. “All you can control is today and this next game, and we’re just focused on that.”
The Raiders got a key player back ahead of Sunday’s visit from the Tennessee Titans — a pairing of 1-4 teams — when tight end Michael Mayer was cleared after missing the previous two games while in concussion protocol. He would have been the primary blocker on the edge on the two blocked kicks.
“It’s crucially important for us, particularly because he’s in such a critical position where he plays and he’s really good at it,” Las Vegas first-year head coach Pete Carroll said. “We need him.”
Sitting out those games made Mayer anxious to jump back out there, and he acknowledged it was tough to watch the Raiders get beat where he usually would have lined up.
“It’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘That’s life,'” Mayer said. “There’s nothing you can really do about it. At the same time, I’m sure there are people that have been upset about me when I probably made a costly mistake. At the end of the day, you hate not being out there. You really do, especially when critical errors come on.”
There are plenty of statistics to show how much cleaning up the Raiders have to do on special teams.
— The average starting position after kickoffs for Las Vegas opponents is at the 32-yard line, which ranks the Raiders as sixth worst in the NFL this season. Las Vegas will especially need to improve on that part of its game against the Titans, whose kick returner, rookie Chimere Dike, averages 26.6 yards and has two of the league’s five longest returns this season.
— Cole’s net punting average is 33.9 yards, the lowest in his career. The seventh-year pro has averaged a career-high 51.2 gross punting yards, his third consecutive year at more than 50, a sign the coverage unit isn’t doing its part to prevent long returns. Opponents have averaged 18.8 yards per punt return, fifth worst in the league.
Cole won’t punt in practice until Friday, and his ankle will be evaluated then. Brad Robbins, who was with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023 and played one game for the Buffalo Bills this season before getting released, was signed to the practice squad. Robbins is an insurance policy in case Cole, also the holder on place kicks, can’t play Sunday against Tennessee.
— Carlson is 9-for-12 on field goals, his worst percentage since making 73.1% in his second season (2019). He also is just 2-of-5 from 50 yards and longer. For his career, Carlson is 34-of-48.
“Practice-wise, I’m kicking the best I have in my career, probably,” Carlson said. “I think it’s the same mindset. Yeah, it’s unfortunate. Those reps that I’ve missed are from deep. Any miskick is frustrating. It’s a matter of ‘What can I do to give myself the best chance to make the next one?’
“I know how I’m kicking it and how I’ve kicked in the past. I’m not too worried. It’s a matter of executing over the course of the next game and then over the course of the season.”
— The Raiders have averaged 8.8 yards on punt returns, which is 23rd in the league, and they are in the middle of the pack on kickoff returns at 25.5 yards.
“We’re working really hard like we have been,” Carroll said. “Tommy’s been here a long time and done a good job for the club, and we haven’t changed any of our emphasis. We’ve followed it as much as we can, and we’re counting on really good results.”