Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury in the team’s Week 1 win over New England — and now, his return remains uncertain. Bowers missed Sunday’s loss to the Colts, and head coach Pete Carroll confirmed Monday that the team will continue taking a cautious approach.
“He’s week-to-week,” Carroll said. “We got to see what’s going on and see if we can get him back. And he’s dying to play. We went all the way till Saturday’s walk-through to see if he could go, and it didn’t feel like he could. So, we’ll just start over again, do it again this week.”
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bowers is dealing with both a PCL injury and a bone bruise, conditions that typically require rest rather than surgery. While not considered severe, the issue has lingered long enough to impact his performance and availability.
“It’s painful, sore, just annoying [and] frustrating because I want to be back to full strength and going full speed,” Bowers said after Week 4. “I feel like I can’t really do that to the best of my abilities right now.”
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Brock Bowers Injury Will Test the Raiders’ Tight End Depth
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Fellow tight end Michael Mayer also missed Week 5 with a concussion, further thinning Las Vegas’ depth at the position. Carroll said the second-year player “has his opportunities tomorrow to get cleared,” but emphasized that the team would respect the concussion protocol.
In their absence, Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. and Ian Thomas were pressed into action against Indianapolis. Okwuegbunam led the team with five catches for 36 yards, while Thomas added three receptions for 20 yards — solid production from the bottom of the depth chart but hardly a replacement for Bowers’ dynamic ability.
Raiders Prioritizing Health Over Short-Term Results
At 1-4, the Raiders’ season is already teetering, and quarterback Geno Smith’s nine interceptions haven’t helped. Still, the organization appears unwilling to rush Bowers back into action, knowing how important he is to their long-term plans.
“Pete Carroll is now labeling Brock Bowers as ‘week to week’ dealing with his knee injury,” Levi Edwards wrote on X. “He missed the first game of his NFL career against the Colts.”
Las Vegas hosts the Tennessee Titans in Week 6, and unless Bowers shows unexpected improvement, it’s likely he will sit again — a difficult but necessary decision for a team trying to protect its future cornerstone.
