Brock Bowers explains 'different' determination to make return in short order

ATHENS, Ga. — Brock Bowers has been described a number of ways over the course of his Georgia career. Terms like ‘alien,’ ‘freak’ and ‘machine’ have all been tossed around. It comes as a surprise and acts as a reminder that he is human after all on the rare occasion that he makes a mistake. But, there may be no better description of Bowers than the one his head coach Kirby Smart used on Saturday, seeing the star tight end come back from ankle surgery after just 26 days: different.

In an era where opting out has been normalized to an extent, or at least isn’t all too uncommon, Bowers wanted nothing more than to make a return to try and help his team win a third straight national championship. That’s definitely different.

“It never really crossed my mind. I just wanted to always come back for the team and all the guys in the locker room. We all just care so much about each other. I just wanted to come back and try to help the team win,” Bowers told reporters on Tuesday.

“Getting it all set up was pretty crazy,” Bowers added about the process to jumpstart his quick return. “My mom came down after Vanderbilt. They told her to come down just in case. I mean it was just all a mess at first. We got it figured out, got it (surgery) done. I wasn’t really paying attention to all that. I was just kind of reaching benchmarks. Whenever I could play, I could play. It ended up being last week.”

In Bowers’ return, he was affective. While the three-catch, 34-yard day wouldn’t stand out on a list of his career stats, it certainly would with the added context of it coming just 26 days removed from ankle surgery.

Need another example of Bowers being different? He admitted that he actually enjoyed the rehab process. It was a way to test himself and push his abilities to hit all the necessary benchmarks as fast as possible.

“I mean, I was progressing pretty fast and hitting those benchmarks like I said,” Bowers said. “Yeah, it was always kind of like the next day I wanted to see what I could hit and see if I could hit faster than the other days. So, it was kind of fun in that way.”

“Just learning how to work through things, having a purpose to come back and wanting to come back, it kind of made me appreciate the things I had before,” Bowers added. “Because when you get in the grind, you don’t really think about it. When it gets taken away from you that fast, you’re like, ‘Man, this sucks,’ then you’ve got to get back into it. It kind of gives you a whole new perspective on it.”

Bowers’ return came in Georgia’s final home game of the season. One of the top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft with the potential to be a top-10 pick, all signs would point towards Saturday’s 52-17 win over Ole Miss also being the last time Bowers takes the field at Sanford Stadium.

While he didn’t necessarily plan for a return by that date to suit up once more between the hedges, it certainly worked out that he was able to. Bowers said that he didn’t know what the coaches’ decision would be as to whether he could play or not until late in the week. He felt good enough to give it a shot, and so did they.

“I didn’t have my mind like totally locked onto a game, but I guess once I got out there, once I got suited up, I got a little, it just felt kind of special being out there for the last time this season,” Bowers said. “It was cool.”

Making the night even more special, Bowers caught a touchdown. He’s no stranger to the end zone, but to see his hard work to get back rewarded like that certainly felt nice.

“The touchdown catch, we repped that play I swear like every single week, every single day for like three years. That was the first time we actually ran it in a game,” Bowers said. “I’m like, it’s the right coverage to throw the Y the ball. It came up, I motioned down and I saw him there and I was like, ‘Oh man, this might be good.’ It felt really good, just getting back and just scoring and being able to celebrate on the sideline with all the dudes. It was fun.”

Moving forward, there are things that Bowers has to do differently now. Being different is nothing new to him though. Bowers has to spend extra time in the training room doing physical therapy in the morning to strengthen his ankle and improve flexibility. On the field, he tapes the ankle and wears spat on the outside of his cleat for extra support, something he wasn’t doing before. If that’s what it takes to be out there with his teammates, it’s what Bowers wants to do.

“I’m feeling pretty good. A little sore after the game, but that was to be expected. I just hadn’t played in three or four weeks or whatever,” Bowers said.

“I don’t know, I guess it kind of helps,” he added about his high pain tolerance. “They said it’s going to feel uncomfortable sometimes. It’s just going to feel that way for a little bit. I’d rather be out there than not.”