Will Brock Bowers play today? New injury report on Raiders tight end

Sunday morning reports indicate that Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers will play today against the New Orleans Saints . ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that Bowers is expected to play, barring a surprise. Brock Bowers has missed the first two games of the year with a knee injury and has been listed as questionable this week despite not practicing Friday. He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday. The Raiders may have tipped their hand by not elevating practice squad tight end Chris Myarick , who was brought up for each of the first two games while Bowers was on the mend.

Bowers was the 13th choice in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft from the Georgia Bulldogs. As a rookie, he had 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and 5 touchdowns. Injuries caused him to miss five games in 2025, but he'd still have 680 receiving yards with a team-best 64 catches and 7 scores.

Without Bowers, 2023 second-round draft pick Michael Mayer has taken a central role at tight end. Mayer has 9 receptions for 55 yards so far. Over his first three seasons, Mayer averaged 28 catches for 263 yards. Mayer is a more traditional tight end with good physicality and route running skills. Bowers provides an athletic mismatch for defenses and is a threat from multiple spots in an offensive formation.

The 2-0 Raiders play at the 1-1 New Orleans Saints this afternoon. New Orleans has had trouble containing opposing tight ends. In Week 1, Detroit 's Sam LaPorta caught 5 passes on 8 targets for 48 yards, doing most of his damage in the first half. Last week, Mark Andrews of Baltimore caught 6 of his 7 targets for 49 yards.