Michael Mayer has been away from the Las Vegas Raiders for some time now. The second-year tight end took a step away from the team before their game against the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago, and has been away from the team since.

On Friday, ESPN's Field Yates reported that Mayer has now been placed on the reserve/non-illness list.

Being placed on this list is similar to the IR, but it doesn't have to do with a physical injury. In the same way players sent to the IR are forced to miss four weeks, Mayer will be forced to miss four weeks with this designation.

This is the latest in what has been a worrisome and largely unknown, to us, development regarding Mayer. We learned that he was out of practice and away from the team before their win against the Browns in Week 4.

That lasted past Las Vegas game last week, and earlier this week we learned that he and his family had been in contact with the team, but that he was not coming back.

With this designation, it means what he's dealing with is pretty serious, as he's now going to miss the next four games, at least.

On this list, it's not required for teams to pay players, so there's a chance Mayer will be sacrificing part of his salary. However, they are allowed to be paid if the team wishes to, so that will likely be up to Mark Davis. As of now, we don't know whether the Raiders will or not.

Whatever it is that Mayer is dealing with, we wish him the best.

Related: Adam Schefter Provides Update On Davante Adams Trade Talks