There’s no denying that the Las Vegas Raiders would love to have star tight end Brock Bowers back on the field as soon as possible.
But it feels like the team messed up rushing Bowers back after suffering a knee injury during Week 1’s win against the New England Patriots.
Brock Bowers’ Injury Dilemma
Bowers, who missed his second-straight game against the Tennessee Titans, is now on track to miss his third-straight game in Week 7’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Head coach Pete Carroll commented on Bowers’ situation, saying he remains optimistic but mentioned “it might be best for the long haul to keep him out until after the bye week.”
The Raiders‘ bye week is Week 8, so the good news is Bowers could only miss just one more game before coming back in Week 9’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The bad news is it didn’t have to be this way.
Bowers balled out in the first game of the season, catching eight balls for 103 yards before suffering a PCL injury and a bone bruise in his left knee. The problem is, doctors said the only way for Bowers to fully recover from those injuries is to rest, which wasn’t the case.
As a result, in the next three games, he totaled just 14 catches for 122 yards. Bowers wasn’t the same player, and the Raiders should have rested him starting from Week 2 till whenever he would be fully healthy.
More on Bowers, Chip Kelly’s Response, and Michael Mayer
Looks like the Raiders had to learn the hard way regarding the handling of Bowers’ injury.
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly commented on his absence on the field, saying, it ‘changes everybody’s job.’
“You lose the premier tight end in the NFL, and play calling is different,” Kelly said. “…You have to be able to make adjustments when you lose players like that, and you’ve got to move on, because no one’s feeling sorry for you when you have a guy down. So, that’s just the nature of the game, and we’re hopeful we’ll get Brock back soon here. He’s working his tail off to get back in the rehab process, so we’ll see how that goes.”
For now, the Raiders will have to rely on Michael Mayer at tight end. Mayer isn’t afraid of the challenge, and he spoke to reporters about his performance during the Titans game.
“We’ve been working on it all week long,” Mayer said. “But what it’s really about is taking the opportunities that I can that arise throughout the game — whether that be first, second quarter, or the second half — and doing what I can with them.”
Mayer also talked about returning from a concussion, saying, “It feels great to be back out there with my guys, being back out there with Geno. The offense feels really, really good. As you can see, we had some really, really good drives today, and we’re going to build off that. We’re going to do a good job. I’m excited about the win — I really am. I’m excited I could help this team get a W, both on special teams and on offense.”
Now the focus shifts to Mayer continuing to be productive at tight end while Bowers recovers. Hopefully, the Raiders and Bowers learned their lesson and opt for rest when it’s needed.
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