Brock Bowers undergoes shoulder surgery, will miss spring practice
Georgia will be without star tight end Brock Bowers this spring after he recently underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum. DawgsHQ has been able to confirm the news first reported by UGASports. It is expected that Bowers will be able to return by the beginning of fall camp.
Bowers, a rising sophomore, led the Bulldogs in receiving this past season as a true freshman, hauling in 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also added four carries for another 56 yards and a score. Three times this season did Bowers go for at least 100 yards and two scores (UAB, Kentucky and Georgia Tech), and he reached the end zone three times against Vanderbilt. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week twice for his performances against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Kirby Smart actually made mention of Bowers’ shoulder injury after the Orange Bowl.
“He’s had a shoulder for a couple of weeks,” Smart said. “We’ve had him practicing in a black jersey limiting his contact some. He’s a tough dude, man, he’s a warrior. He wanted to get back in there tonight, and we just didn’t let him.”
“It’s not like it’s something new that just came up. It bothers him from time to time at practice,” he added ahead of the National Championship. “He’s a football player. It’s not going to go away in season. A lot of our guys are dealing with that.”
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Bowers solidified himself as one of the top tight ends in the country in 2021, nevertheless one of the top freshmen, and is expected to build on that in 2022. He was a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, given to the top tight end in all of college football. Many believed that he should have won the award, and certainly should have been a finalist. Bowers was named SEC Freshman of the Year by both the AP and Coaches and won national Freshman of the Year Award from the Football Writers Association of America on top of earning All-American status from multiple media outlets including USA Today, ESPN and the Associated Press.
Bowers isn’t the first Bulldog to undergo surgery this offseason. Bear Alexander and C.J. Madden, both early enrollees, underwent similar surgeries on their shoulders. In year’s past, guys like Nakobe Dean and Kelee Ringo have had the same surgery and bounced back just fine. In fact, Dean missed last spring, as did Micah Morris, and was ready to go by the start of fall camp. When indeed he does return, Bowers will be one of the top targets for the Bulldogs with the departures of wide receivers George Pickens and Jermaine Burton. In the mean time, Bowers’ absence offers early enrollee tight end Oscar Delp, along with those that have been on campus longer like Darnell Washington, Brett Seither and Ryland Goede, an opportunity to get valuable reps in his first spring with the team.
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