Georgia TE Brock Bowers to undergo tight-rope surgery on injured ankle
Georgia will be without it’s top offensive weapon at least a few weeks and maybe more. UGA has announced that tight end Brock Bowers will undergo tight-rope surgery on Monday on his left ankle. A full recovery is expected. The surgery is meant to speed up the healing process from a high ankle sprain, which is the injury Bowers sustained on Saturday in the Bulldogs’ 37-20 win over Vanderbilt.
The junior playmaker went down in the second quarter after he was tackled near the sideline on an end-around play. Replay shows that a defender rolled up on his ankle from the outside while it was still planted into the ground.
He was limping when he got off the turf and tried to make his way back to the sideline before going down again. That caused the Georgia medical staff to come out and tend to him on the field. He left the field on his own power and entered the injury tent. When Bowers emerged from the tent, he had the help of a Georgia staff member to get into the locker room.
The 2022 Mackey Award winner, given annually to the nation’s top tight end, had four catches for 22 yards and two carries for 11 yards when he exited the game.
The Napa, Calif. native is Georgia’s leading receiver in 2023, just as he has been the past two seasons. Adding his first-half numbers against the Commodores, Bowers has 41 catches for 567 yards and four touchdowns on the year.
As a freshman in 2021, Bowers was Georgia’s No. 1 offensive weapon and racked up 882 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 56 catches. He also had a rushing touchdown and 56 yards on the ground that season.
Despite racking up over 1,000 total yards in 2022, he was out gained by Kenny McIntosh but still remained the Bulldogs’ most impactful weapon in the passing game. Bowers caught 63 passes for 942 yards and seven touchdowns while helping Georgia to its second National Championship in as many seasons. Bowers added nine carries for 109 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Coming into Saturday’s game Bowers had three straight games of 100 receiving yards or more. He did that against UAB, Auburn, and Kentucky. The Bulldogs are on BYE this week followed by a meeting with Florida in Jacksonville on October 28. They then have Missouri and Ole Miss at home, team’s ranked No. 20 and 13 respectively in the latest AP poll, at home before hitting the road to take on Tennessee in week 12. The Volunteers are ranked No. 17. Georgia will end the 2023 regular season at Georgia Tech on November 25.
