The Raiders were able to beat the Miami Dolphins without Brock Bowers (knee) in week 1, but a win over the Los Angeles Chargers won’t come as easily in week 2 on the road.
Initial reports were that Bowers would probably miss a game or two, but with his meniscus procedure taking place just last week (Tuesday), it seemed like a long shot that Bowers would miss only one game.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said last week that Bowers intends to return as quickly as possible, and according to Schefter colleague, Dan Graziano, there is a real chance Bowers will be back this week.
“Raiders tight end Brock Bowers’ knee injury is not overly serious, from what I am told,” Graziano reported on Wednesday.
“The team felt he could have played last week if necessary, and it’s possible he returns this week. But the organization is determined to be careful with this very important player and not play him until they’re 100% certain he’s not being affected by the knee. I believe the latest you’ll see Bowers is Week 4 against the Chiefs, but again, it could be sooner than that.”
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said on Wednesday evening that Bowers is expected to be back by week 3, and this week could come down to how safe the team wants to play it with their star tight end.
” I do know they expect him back for New Orleans, but now the question is really going to be ‘are the Raiders going to be cautious?'” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “It wouldn’t be reckless to bring him back this week. I want to make that clear. It’s being cautious.”
Reading between the lines a little between Graziano and Carpenter, it sounds like the odds are still against Bowers playing against the Chargers, but the door is being left open.
Only Bowers and his medical team understand the risks involved to returning to the field just 12 days after meniscus surgery, but it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t benefit from another week of recovery.
Bowers knee injuries go back to college, report says
Last week, Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer talked about Bowers’ knee and said the “wear and tear” on his knees goes back to before he was drafted by the Raiders.
“That’s a wear and tear injury. And having him in this, I don’t want to scare anybody here because it was a trim rather than a repair, which gets him back sooner rather than later. But there was some wear and tear stuff on him coming out of Georgia,” Breer said on the Rich Eisen Show.
“No alarm bells here, but… that’s why you don’t see with an injury like this, these sometimes just pop up rather than us actually getting to see something happening in a game or something happened at practice where practice was stopped. This is generally one of those things that is something that evolves over time. Ironically enough, it’s like the same sort of thing that Maxx Crosby has.”
“Again, I’m not starting that alarm because I’m saying these things that probably would make Raiders fans recoil to some degree, and so I’m not sounding that alarm yet. But this is the sort of wear and tear thing that you want to take care of. And so they take the more aggressive route in getting them back to the field, under the field, and having the trim rather than the repair. But it does at least, I think, get your attention just as far as the amount of mileage he has just three years into his career.”
x: @raidersbeat