Knee injury forces Raiders’ TE Brock Bowers to miss game vs. Colts

Las Vegas’ tight end Brock Bowers, who is becoming more and more popular, has been announced as not active for the away game in Indianapolis on Sunday as his knee injury continues to get worse. The decision was made after Bowers didn’t show up for practice on both Thursday and Friday, something that is out of character for a player who is usually seen working through his pain. The staff of the Raiders’ coaches decided to put his treatment first and to keep him out of the game.

Head coach Pete Carroll had given his support to Bowers earlier when he was thought to be able to play. Nevertheless, on Saturday, there were indications that he was moving towards missing the game, and the team later made the announcement of his inactive status before the game started.

Brock Bowers’ knee setback and what it means

Initially, he had an injury to his left knee, specifically a PCL issue with a bone bruise, when the Raiders played the New England Patriots at home in the season opener. In spite of the pain, he went on to play for the next few weeks, but for sure his performance on the field was worse, and his receiving output showed a downward tendency.

 

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He did not practice twice in a row last week, showing his injury was being handled carefully by the coaching staff. Sources told the media that the team was hoping his knee would be better by Sunday due to the extra rest, but the evening on Saturday was when it was clear that the knee had not improved.

Moreover, the 21-year-old tight end is said to be annoyed with the predicament, and he admitted that the injury prevents him from doing the fast cuts and getting away from the defenders. Besides Bowers, tight end Michael Mayer, who suffered a concussion, is still in recovery and hence, the Raiders are made up of a short list at the offensive line. The trio of Ian Thomas, Carter Runyon, and Albert Okwuegbunam who was moved from the practice squad, will be relied on by the team to step into the void.

How Brock Bowers’ absence impacts the Raiders’ game plan

It’s a big loss for the Raiders that they will not be able to count on Bowers, especially in the red zone and on third downs, where he is most times the one to whom the ball is thrown. Typically, when he is there, defenders are the ones who are run to by them, so the wide receivers and running backs have a chance to get hold of the mismatches and thus exploit them. Free of him, it is very likely that the offense of the Raiders will have problems in keeping the flow as well as the variety of plays.