Going back to the first month of the season, one of the major complaints about the Raiders’ coaching staff has been their apparent unwillingness to play the rookies.

Even beyond the rookies, it still isn’t clear why Jackson Powers-Johnson appeared to be targeted by the coaching staff for the first two months of the season, and why the coaching staff continues to make confusing decisions at the center position.

Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter was asked this week why Pete Carroll has presided over so many decisions that haven’t made sense and Hondo’s answer seemed to point to powers in the Raiders’ building above the head coach.

“I think everybody has bosses and if there are people who Pete’s accountable to that make decisions, I can understand why fans blame Pete,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.

“I think there have been some very bad talent evaluations for sure. I’m the one that came out publicly and said, can we stop the insanity of Cappa and JPJ are competing? Everybody has bosses and guess what? When your bosses set a direction and you are not the boss. You follow your boss.”

In theory, the only person in the Raiders’ building above the head coach who should have major input on the roster would be GM John Spytek, but why would Spytek mandate that his rookie class stay off the field?

Considering what has been reported about Tom Brady’s extensive role with the team, it’s fair to wonder if the “bosses” in this case are a reference to Brady.

There are only a few figures in the organization who would outrank Carroll on the personnel side of the operation, and those would be Spytek, Brady and Mark Davis.

With so many accomplished football minds added to the organization in the last 13 months, it’s hard to imagine Davis would meddle with the roster, particularly as it involves rookies and the depth chart along the offensive line.

And if it’s not Spytek telling the coaching staff to sit the players he drafted… that only leaves Brady, doesn’t it?

Will the starters look different this week against the Chargers?

It will be interesting to see if there are any changes to the depth chart this week with Chip Kelly no longer in the picture.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore pointed to Kelly as the one who presided over the roster decisions on offense this year, but there has been a lot of talk in the last week about Brady’s influence on Kelly.

“When you give somebody $6 million dollars a year, and really what you’re doing to lure him from a really good job to your job, to come fix the offense. It comes with provisions and understandings that you’re in charge. This is your offense,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate this week.

“Pete Carroll is a defensive guy. And as he mentioned many times yesterday, out of deference to Chip Kelly, he implied very strongly that all the calls were on Chip Kelly, including personnel, right? I think there was a massive implication that that was the case. How accurate that all is, we’re going to find out.”

As Bonsignore pointed out, we’re going to find out soon what Carroll really thinks of the team’s personnel on offense this week against the Chargers.

Will third-round pick Caleb Rogers finally get an opportunity and who does Carroll really like at center?

We should get to know in about 24 hours.

x: @raidersbeat