Brock Bowers returns to practice for Raiders ‘ready to go’ for season opener vs Chargers

Raiders got their top pick tight end back Wednesday ‘ready to go’ to open the season

Good news out of Las Vegas on Wednesday. The Raiders hit the practice field for game week preparations for the season opener vs the Chargers. And top pick tight end Brock Bowers will be taking the field with them.

“He’ll be at practice,” Pierce said of Bowers prior to practice Wednesday.

Bowers had been missing from practice the past couple weeks and there was some concern about whether he would be back and ready in time for the season opener. To which Pierce added that Bowers will be “ready to go. Good to go.”

The Raiders selected Bowers at 13 overall in April’s draft, so they have have big plans for the dominant Georgia tight end.

Bowers is expected to start at tight end right away, along with last year’s round two pick Michael Mayer. The Raiders are hoping it gives the team a formidable one-two punch as well as some versatility to block in the passing game as well as in the run game.

Though, Pierce would prefer Bowers is spending most of his time running routes and being a mismatch against linebackers, rather than staying back to block.

Antonio Pierce gives update on Brock Bowers injury status for Raiders opener

Will Brock Bowers be ready when the Raiders open the season?

For the most part the Raiders are pretty healthy as they head toward the beginning of the 2024 season. The biggest concern of late has been the health and status of top pick tight end Brock Bowers who has been missing from practice for a couple weeks now with an undisclosed injury.

Antonio Pierce was asked about whether he thinks Bowers will be ready for the season opener.

“Yeah, I feel really good about that to be honest,” Pierce said of Bowers’s status. “Just again, I’m going to go back to protecting the young guy. Sometimes you get in the league, you have got to be smart and sometimes you have got to protect them from themselves. So, that’s all it is.”

In other words, he is saying it’s mostly precautionary. Which, if that’s the case, you’d expect Bowers to return to practice next week when they begin game week preparations. So, that’s the next milestone for Bowers.