Ahead of his first season in the NFL, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers has been sidelined with a foot injury for weeks now, and we haven't seen him since the preseason Week 1 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Ahead of the Raiders' preseason Week 3 game that Bowers ended up missing, head coach Antonio Pierce provided an update on the No. 13 overall pick, saying that Bowers was dealing with an unspecified foot injury.
The good news was, Pierce didn't express concern about Bowers' ability to be ready for Week 1.
"Yeah, just precautionary," Pierce said when asked if his rookie tight end would be ready for Week 1. "Got a foot injury and we just want to protect him."
The Raiders were back on the practice field on Tuesday and we received an update about Bowers' practice participation.
Brock Bowers injury update
UPDATE: Antonio Pierce reiterated on Thursday that Bowers is expected to be ready to go for Week 1.
"Yeah, I feel really good [about Bowers playing]," Pierce said . "Just again, I'm going to go back to protecting a young guy that, sometimes you get to the league, you've got to be smart. Sometimes you've got to protect them from themselves."
End of update
After not practicing on Tuesday , Bowers is sitting out practice once again on Wednesday, according to ESPN's Paul Gutierrez . While at least a bit concerning, bear in mind that there's still an entire week of practice after this one, so it's possible the Raiders are just taking it slow with their young tight end.
Bowers enters the NFL with plenty of hype, as many consider him a generational talent at the tight end position. In his preseason debut a few weeks back, Bowers showed why there is hype surrounding him.
The Georgia product tallied two catches for 25 yards, displaying his versatility and yards after catch ability in the process. He lined up in the slot, out wide, in line, and even in the backfield.
The Raiders also have Michael Mayer, but the Raiders are expected to deploy plenty of two tight end sets and, as mentioned, Bowers can line up anywhere on the field, so the young tight ends aren't likely to get in each other's way in terms of snaps. If anything, the Raiders will opt for the more dynamic Bowers more times than not.
The biggest concern for Bowers is the quarterback situation. Gardner Minshew is going to start the season under center, but he's no sure thing. The same can be said for his backup, second-year signal-caller, Aidan O'Connell.
That said, Bowers is the perfect security blanket for less talented quarterbacks and just needs the ball in his hands to make things happen. He should be fine and should be expected to contribute plenty in Year 1.
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