Brock Bowers vs. Cole Kmet
This battle will be one of attrition between these two dynamic tight ends.
Brock Bowerssuffered a knee injury in the season opener against the New England Patriots and is still on the mend. He recorded five catches for 103 yards in Week 1. In his two games since, nine catches for 76 yards.
Fortunately for the Raiders, Bowers was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice – his first practice not in a limited capacity in over two weeks.
“He’s been making it,” Carroll said of Bowers’ injury status. “They’ve treated him well and got him to play in these games. He’s still wearing a legitimate brace that he can feel, but he’ll continue for another couple weeks having to wear that brace to be safe.”
The Bears’ top two tight ends, Cole Kmet and 2025 first-rounder Colston Loveland, are also battling through injuries. Kmet (groin) was a limited participant Wednesday while Loveland (hip) did not participate, according to the team’s injury report. This could throw a wrench in the Bears’ gameplan for Sunday, as they’ve lined up in 12 personnel on 40.8 percent of their offensive plays, third-most in the league, according to Next Gen Stats.
On the other side of the coin, Michael Mayer didn’t practice Wednesday due to a concussion. Therefore, the health of the two teams’ tight end rooms will be something to monitor throughout the week and could potentially be a huge factor in this Sunday’s game.