The Las Vegas Raiders began the 2026 season with a 27-13 win against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. However, they were forced to do it without star TE Brock Bowers.
Bowers suffered a knee injury during training camp and ultimately underwent a meniscus trim on September 8. As a result, the former first-round pick sat out Sunday's victory and has many wondering when he'll return.
Below, we’ll dive into the latest Brock Bowers injury update and outline its potential impact on Raiders fantasy football picks and projections for PrizePicks.
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Brock Bowers Injury Update: Will Raiders TE Continue to Miss Time?
It’s currently unclear if Bowers will suit up for Sunday’s Week 2 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. Head coach Klint Kubiak said Bowers wouldn’t practice Wednesday but hopes he can get on the field Thursday or Friday, per The Athletic’s Sam Warren.
Kubiak had described Bowers’ status as day-to-day on Monday.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano also reports that Bowers’ knee injury is “not overly serious,” and a Week 2 return is a possibility. Graziano also reported that Bowers could’ve played in Week 1 “if necessary.”
It’s still early in the week, so there's plenty of time for Bowers to log practice reps. However, it’s far from a foregone conclusion that he'll make his season debut on Sunday.
Bowers is fresh off a campaign in which he caught a team-high 64 passes for 680 yards and 7 TDs in 12 games.
Raiders Fantasy Football Outlook If Bowers Misses Week 2
It was very evident that Bowers’ presence was missed in Week 1 despite the Raiders landing in the win column. Fantasy managers would've liked having Bowers in their lineups, too, considering that he was taken 22rd overall in full-point PPR leagues according to FantasyPros.
RB Ashton Jeanty led the Raiders with 6 receptions for 45 yards and 2 TDs against the Dolphins. As far as traditional pass catchers go, backup TE Michael Mayer also got a lot of work.
The Las Vegas WR depth chart isn’t the most polarizing group, with Tre Tucker, Jack Bech, and Jalen Nailor leading the way. As a result, Mayer could be a favorite target for QB Kirk Cousins again in Week 2.
Mayer caught 6 passes for 32 yards on a team-high 7 targets against Miami. In Week 1, the Chargers struggled to cover TE Trey McBride, who racked up 9 receptions for 95 yards.
According to SumerSports, even when Bowers was active last year, Mayer still got 12.89% of the targets and caught 70.0% of them. In Week 1, the Notre Dame product had a 24.14% target share, which actually topped Bowers’ 23.63% clip from 2025.
The Raiders are 6.5-point underdogs against the Chargers on Sunday, via PrizePicks, returning a 3.22x payout if they’re able to come out on top. Their outlook icould change drastically if Bowers takes the field.
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The Raiders managed a Week 1 win against the Dolphins without one of their top offensive weapons. With Week 2 right around the corner, it’ll be worth watching to find out whether Bowers can make his season debut against the Chargers.
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