Ex-NFL doctor offers optimism for Brock Bowers amid fears of injury setback

Mike Moraitis

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Ex-NFL doctor offers optimism for Brock Bowers amid fears of injury setback image

Alarm bells went off on Thursday after Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers saw a downgrade in practice participation.

Bowers, who has been listed on the injury report since suffering a knee injury in Week 1, did not take part in practice on Thursday after being a limited participant on Wednesday.

Making that more troubling is the fact that Bowers practiced in full all week last week, so the fear is that Bowers has suffered a setback.

However, former NFL doctor David J. Chao has offered some optimism for Bowers and a possible explanation other than a setback.

He mentions that it's possible Bowers was simply getting an off day as the Raiders try to manage his knee, an approach he says would make "some sense."

To be clear, this is just an idea floated out there by Chao and not some inside information, so take it for what it's worth.

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed. We know he’s not 100 percent from his PCL injury,” Chao said. “He’s still wearing the big brace. The Thursday DNP concerns everyone, but because he’s not 100 percent, resting him on Thursday makes some sense… hopefully he’s back limited on Friday and good to go."

Aside from breaking into a total panic that the Raiders star had suffered a setback, this is something else we considered. Las Vegas needs to be careful with its best offensive player, so resting him on Thursday is a logical approach.

Despite having the knee issue, Bowers has not missed a game this season, and he did not miss a game in 2024, either.

But Bowers has seen a dip in production after posting a monster Week 1, so there is a concern he might be hampered by his knee and playing at less than 100%.

Whatever the case may be, the Raiders will put out their final injury report of the week on Friday, and head coach Pete Carroll may provide an update before then when he addresses the media.

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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.