Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers probably won't play against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. It's only a matter of time until he returns to the field, though. Bowers underwent a meniscus trim in his left knee on Sept. 8, and despite the original prognosis being relatively ambiguous, he has already cleared the biggest hurdle in his recovery and returned to practice on Friday.
If everything continues to progress well, he is likely to make his regular season debut next weekend against the New Orleans Saints, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Bowers, who only missed five total practices, has been wearing a sleeve on his left knee but no brace. Las Vegas head coach Klint Kubiak said the team would be smart with the third-year tight end and listen to the athletic trainers when determining when to activate him.
If and when he's fully ready, he will play. The Raiders have been quite alright without the star tight end, with backup Michael Mayer catching six passes on seven targets in the club's season-opening victory over the Miami Dolphins. Bowers faced a similar situation last year, as he suffered a posterior cruciate ligament injury and a bone bruise in his left knee in the season opener before eventually sitting out for three games after playing through it for the first month of the season.
LV doesn't want to go through something similar, which means he'll get as much time as he needs.
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