The Las Vegas Raiders looked like a force to be reckoned with in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, as they took down the now 6-2 New England Patriots on the road. Of course, that was the last time that they had All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers at full force.
Bowers suffered a knee injury at the end of the third quarter during the contest and did not return, then tried to tough through the ailment for the next three weeks. While he was able to play, he didn't look like himself, and by not resting, his injury was not healing at the rate that it could have been.
As a result, Bowers was sidelined for the Raiders' three games before their Week 8 bye, and the results were not exactly positive. Las Vegas lost by 30 or more points on two occasions, with their lone win being an unimpressive one at home against the lowly Tennessee Titans.
Raiders' Brock Bowers will play in Week 9 vs. Jaguars
With extra time to heal, however, Bowers returned to practice in a full capacity in the days leading up to Week 9's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Raiders' official injury report indicated that Bowers had no injury designation for the game, which means that he will make his return on Sunday.
This is, of course, barring any setbacks or nefarious circumstances that may occur. But based on how things went at practice for Bowers this week, it seems like he will finally be reinserted into the lineup for this weekend's game at Allegiant Stadium.
Against a Jaguars team that has one of the NFL's worst passing defenses, having Bowers back will be a huge benefit. Of course, Jacksonville's linebacker duo of Devin Lloyd and Foye Oluokun is great in coverage and figures to match up against Bowers, but still, this is a net positive for the Raiders.
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Veteran quarterback Geno Smith has continued to see his play quality diminish as the season progresses, and that is, in part, due to Bowers' absence. But with the second-year stud tight end and Jakobi Meyers also returning from injury, Smith will have no excuses this Sunday.
Against the Patriots in Week 1, Bowers recorded 5 catches for 103 yards in the first three quarters of the game. Being hindered by injury, however, he caught a total of just 14 passes for 122 yards in the next three contests.
As a rookie, Bowers averaged over 70 receiving yards per game, and now that he has a clean bill of health, he is expected to return to that form for Las Vegas. The Raiders are getting healthy at the right time, and getting Bowers back is a major component of that.