The top tight end in football is on the shelf as the 2026-27 NFL season gets rolling. Star Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers underwent a minor meniscus trim surgery in Dallas on Tuesday, after knee discomfort in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season.
Below, we will deliver a Bowers injury update and look at when the tight end will return to the Raiders lineup.
Brock Bowers injury update: When will Raiders TE return?
Bowers has had knee issues for a full year, as he injured his PCL and suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in Week 1 against the Patriots last year. Bowers played through the injury in September of last season but missed three games in October 2025 due to the knee issues.
The news that he was having surgery on the knee this week was stunning for many Raiders fans and fantasy football owners, as there was little indication during training camp and in the pre-season that Bowers still had lingering issues with the knee.
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak was even saying as recently as Wednesday morning, after Bowers underwent the meniscus trim, that he expected his star tight end to play this Sunday against the Dolphins.
“We’re expecting to have all our guys ready for Sunday,” Kubiak said.
It typically takes around 4-6 weeks to recover from a meniscus trim surgery, but Bowers’ camp has said he will only be out 1-2 weeks.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter pushed back on the 1-2 weeks timeline this week on The Pat McAfee Show.
“The 1-2 week projection is coming, essentially from people around him and him,” Schefter said. “That’s what they believe. A player is always going to downplay [an injury] because they’re going to want you to think they’ll come back sooner. He probably thinks he can come back in a week or two. He wants to be there as soon as possible for his team. Is that going to be a week or two? Well, that may be what he thinks, but let’s see how it actually goes. Even if he is back in a week or two. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, that he’s a warrior and he’s playing sooner than we thought. Is he going to be at full strength in a week or two? No, he’s not. That’s not practical or realistic. It’s going to take a little bit of time to get over that.”
We know that Bowers will not play this Sunday against the Dolphins. Week 2 against the Chargers seems like a stretch.
Once we get into late September and early October, that seems to be the time period that is most likely in which we see Bowers return.
Here is a look at the Raiders schedule around that time.
- Week 2 Sunday, September 20: Raiders at Chargers
- Week 3 Sunday, September 27: Raiders at Saints
- Week 4 Sunday, October 4: Chiefs at Raiders
- Week 5 Sunday, October 11: Raiders at Patriots
- Week 6 Sunday, October 18: Bills at Raiders
Brock Bowers fantasy football stock
The Bowers injury is one of the biggest fantasy football talking points this week, as most leagues had already held their drafts prior to the news.
Bowers was the unquestioned TE1 in fantasy drafts, and was typically being picked in the late 20s or early 30s overall.
The former Georgia standout is coming off a 64-catch season in which he hauled in 680 yards worth of receiving in just 12 games played. Bowers found the end zone 7 times last season.
He had a sensational rookie season with the Raiders in 2024, catching 112 balls for 1,194 yards and 5 TDs in 17 games.
Raiders odds
The Raiders enter the 2026-27 NFL season with one of the lowest projected win totals at Fanatics Sportsbook, at 5.5.
Kubiak’s team is +15000 to win the Super Bowl. Only the Browns, Jets, Cardinals, and Dolphins have longer odds.
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