If you could remove the skin covering a mold rats eyes, would the eyes serve any function?

Or are they entirely useless even without the skin covering? No colors, shapes, anything? If they still couldn%26#039;t see anything, what exactly is missing from the eyes that would otherwise make them functional?|||According to a 2002 paper, the eyes have lost their visual capability, but do function in circadian rhythms--waking/sleeping etc.