Brock Bowers injury update: Raiders coach shares latest on TE's Week 1 status

The Week 1 status of Las Vegas Raiders 2024 first-round pick and tight end Brock Bowers has been up in the air ever since he suffered a foot injury that has kept him sidelined from practice for the past three weeks.

Bowers appeared in preseason Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings , when he tallied two catches for 25 yards while displaying every reason to be excited about him. But that was the last we've seen him because of his foot injury.

While his extended absence is at least a little concerning, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce recently provided an update on Bowers' Week 1 status that leaves us optimistic that the Georgia product will be on the field for the season-opener versus the Los Angeles Chargers .

Brock Bowers injury update for Week 1

“Yeah, I feel really good about that to be honest,” Pierce said of Bowers' chances of playing in Week 1. “Just again, I’m going to go back to protecting the young guy. Sometimes you get in the league, you have got to be smart and sometimes you have got to protect them from themselves. So, that’s all it is.”

With that update, we'll now be keeping an eye on Bowers' practice participation this week. Hopefully he'll put to bed fears about his Week 1 status by getting back to work by the time the Raiders release their first injury report on Wednesday.

Despite having second-year tight end Michael Mayer, who was drafted in the second round in 2023, the Raiders still went ahead and took Bowers with their first pick (No. 13 overall) in 2024.

That just goes to show how highly they view Bowers, who is considered one of the best tight end prospects to come out of college in a long time. He should be an immediate contributor in Las Vegas' offense this coming season.