Brock Bowers injury update: Raiders send mixed signals for star's Week 7 availability

Mike Moraitis

Brock Bowers injury update: Raiders send mixed signals for star's Week 7 availability image

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The Las Vegas Raiders are hoping to get tight end Brock Bowers back for the Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bowers suffered a knee injury in Week 1, and after playing through it for three games, the Raiders star tight end finally succumbed to the injury and has now missed each of the past two contests.

Ahead of the AFC West matchup versus the reigning conference champs, Bowers' status remains up in the air and a comment from head coach Pete Carroll didn't do anything to change that.

Here's what he said.

Brock Bowers injury update

Carroll said he's optimistic about Bowers' chances of playing this week, but he also added that it might be in the best interest of Bowers' long-term outlook to keep him out through the bye, which is in Week 8.

"Raiders coach Pete Carroll says he's optimistic (for Bowers' Week 7 availability) but alluded to the fact that it might be best for the long haul to keep Brock Bowers out till after the bye week," Jesse Merrick of the Silver and Black Sports Network reported.

So, in short, we have no idea if Bowers is going to play this week. If not, the next time we could see him is in Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As painful as it is for the Raiders to not have their best offensive player, taking the cautious route and sitting Bowers for another game before the bye makes sense.

Bowers is not going to do anything to change the Raiders' season, which got a temporary reprieve from its nosedive after a win over the inept Tennessee Titans.

Therefore, it makes no sense to bring him back until he's 100% healthy.

If that's this week, great. If not, wait until after the bye and go from there.

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Mike Moraitis

Mike Moraitis is a freelance writer who covers the NFL for the Sporting News. Over his nearly two decades covering sports, Mike has also worked for Bleacher Report, USA TODAY and FanSided. He hates writing in the third person.