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When is Brock Bowers coming back? Will Brock Bowers play again this season? Read about Brock Bowers's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Brock Bowers set the NFL world alight as a rookie, earning First-Team All-Pro honors after racking up 1,194 receiving yards and scoring five touchdowns.
Unfortunately, he struggled with injuries in 2025, failing to justify his TE1 ADP. He was still regarded as the TE1 ahead of the 2026 season despite Trey McBride's outstanding 2025 campaign, but injuries have prevented him from making his season debut.
When is Bowers coming back? Will he miss most of the season? Let's dive in!
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Brock Bowers Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Brock Bowers suffered a left knee bruise in Week 1 of the 2025 season and struggled with the injury all season long. He missed five games last year, but was hopeful the injury wouldn't flare up again in 2026.
Brock Bowers Has Strong Chance to Make Week 3 Debut https://t.co/uqU6qTgbAx
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) September 23, 2026
Sadly, that same left knee caused issues for him once again in the preseason, and he underwent a partial meniscectomy (known as a meniscus trim) to fix the issue.
ESPN's Adam Schefter initially reported that Bowers would "miss a game or two", and sure enough, he missed the first two games of the 2026 season, despite Head coach Klint Kubiak saying Bowers was "very close" to playing in Week 2, per NBC Sports' Myles Simmons.
Backup TE Michael Mayer, who recently signed a three-year, $45 million contract extension with the Raiders, caught nine passes for 55 yards in his place to help Las Vegas jump out to an unexpected 2-0 start.
Now, it looks like Bowers is back and ready to make his season debut. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport "expects" Bowers to play in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints.
Bowers was limited in Wednesday's practice, so fantasy managers should still monitor the situation, but with plenty of optimism.
Brock Bowers Fantasy Football Outlook
Bowers was slightly overpriced in fantasy drafts heading into this year. He has only finished as the overall PPR TE1 on just four occasions since he entered the NFL. In contrast, McBride achieved this feat six times during the same time span.
"I wouldn't expect too many limitations on snap count or target count right away"
- Dan Graziano on Brock Bowers' projected Week 3 return
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) September 23, 2026
However, he still has a higher floor and ceiling compared to almost every other fantasy tight end. He has been targeted at least five times in 25 out of his 29 (86.2%) career games.
Kubiak, who is in his first year as an NFL head coach, has done a tremendous job so far, defying all expectations this season. The Raiders' offense is currently ranked 10th in points scored (53) and 14th in points per drive (2.13).
Quarterback Kirk Cousins is enjoying a mini career renaissance, throwing for six touchdowns to three interceptions and a 100.5 passer rating, despite missing Bowers, who could be his most dangerous weapon.
In Bowers' absence, Mayer was targeted 11 times, or 5.5 times per game, which suggests a huge role could be coming Bowers' way.
Bowers and the Raiders won't play the easiest schedule in the world. They have a difficult stretch from Week 7 until their Week 13 bye, facing the Rams, Jets, 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, and Browns.
Five of these defenses rank in the top-12 of fewest PPR points allowed to tight ends, while the remaining team, the Seattle Seahawks, have the second-ranked overall defense and just won the Super Bowl.
It won't be easy, but Bowers will be the Raiders' main hope and their top receiving target if they want to build upon their surprising unbeaten start and make a playoff push. He is a must-start TE1 in all formats whenever healthy.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Week 3 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Brock Bowers. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 3.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 3 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 3 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 3 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 3 for Brock Bowers:
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