Raiders 2022 preview: Tashawn Bower ready to help

One of the stars of the Las Vegas Raiders’ perfect 4-0 preseason was veteran free-agent pass-rusher Tashawn Bower.

Bower had four sacks, which led the NFL in the preseason. Bower sealed his place on the Raiders’ 53-man roster with two sacks, including a forced fumble, in the finale against the New England Patriots on Aug. 26.

Bower should be a rotational pass-rusher along with Malcolm Koonce and Clelin Ferrell behind stars Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones. When veteran pass-rushers Kyler Fackrell and Jordan Jenkins went down with season-ending injuries this summer, the door was opened for Bower and he jumped through it and know he’s looking forward to Week 1 at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

The LSU product recently told reporters he felt he did enough in the preseason to secure a roster spot

“I feel like I’ve done a good job, but (I let) the coaches decide that,” Bower said. “We have a lot of other good players who can do great things, too. Whatever I can do to fit in, in my role on this defense or this team, I’m ready to accept it ... I feel like I did a good job. There are definitely some things to clean up still, but overall, I think I did a good job. The team did a great job, especially getting that turnover on that last drive. I’m really happy with how we did as a team.”

Bower, 27, was with the new Las Vegas brass in New England spanning from 2019-2021, bouncing from the 53-man roster to the practice squad. He ended up playing nine games with three starts in New England. Bower has played a total of 20 NFL games with two career sacks in the regular season.

He hoping to build on those numbers in Las Vegas.

“It’s just taking things from different teams I’ve been with and taking the coaching here, implementing all the little things; homing in on that while you’re practicing and being focused,” Bower said. “I think that had to do with it, but every other time, there are 10 other guys doing their jobs as well.”