Brock Bowers had his knee cleaned up, missed two games, then walked back into the NFL on Sunday and caught 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
asserted
knee → have → yards
Which is an absurd sentence to write.
asserted
Which → write → ?
It becomes slightly less absurd when you get to the part about who did it.
asserted
who → become → it
That would be Bowers, whose greatest trick might eventually be making the extraordinary so routine that everyone forgets how unreasonable it is to expect any of this.
uncertain
it → make → this
Then right back to being a problem that an entire NFL defense cannot solve.
asserted
defense → solve → that
Tre Tucker was still trying to process it afterward.
asserted
Tucker → try → it
“You sit out two weeks to get your knee all cleaned up, and then to come out here and have a game like that?”
asserted
knee → sit → that
The Raiders beat the Saints 35-27 on Sunday to improve to 3-0, and there was plenty to unpack about the resolve and timely playmaking that carried them through another test.
asserted
that → beat → test
But somewhere in the middle of all that, their best offensive player returned from a knee procedure and immediately reminded everyone that the team winning without him had been operating with a substantial piece of its identity missing.
asserted
piece → return → identity
The Raiders had found ways to compensate.
asserted
Raiders → find → ways
Now they get to explore everything his presence makes possible.
asserted
presence → get → everything
Even the quarterback throwing him the ball is still discovering how much that might be.
uncertain
that → throw → ball
In Minnesota, playing alongside Justin Jefferson taught him that some talents reveal themselves in layers.
asserted
talents → play → layers
What you see in practice is only the beginning.
asserted
see → see → practice
Games reveal another level, and, with it, a growing understanding of what you can ask of someone that gifted.
asserted
you → reveal → someone
He is beginning that same process with Bowers.
asserted
He → begin → Bowers
“I had this with Justin, where early on you don’t realize how good he was as a player,” said Cousins.
asserted
Cousins → have → player
“And then you play with him longer, and you start to realize, ‘Oh, practice didn’t really show just how good he is,’ and so I think games with Brock will be important for us to continue to build that rapport.”
asserted
us → play → rapport
Cousins has shared a huddle with Jefferson.
asserted
Cousins → share → Jefferson
He understands what it looks like when a gifted pass catcher starts revealing abilities that even the people working alongside him every day did not fully appreciate.
asserted
people → understand → him
And here he is, one game into his regular-season partnership with Bowers, suggesting there is more to discover.
asserted
he → suggest → Bowers
Bowers is rapidly pushing his way beyond conversations confined to tight ends.
asserted
Bowers → push → ends
The position explains where he lines up some of the time.
asserted
he → explain → time
It does increasingly little to explain the scope of the threat.
asserted
It → do → threat
He can be the dependable completion that keeps a possession moving and the explosive play that changes its direction.
asserted
that → keep → direction
He can command the coverage’s attention and still end up with the football.
asserted
He → command → football
At some point, the labels become less useful than the defensive game plan devoted to containing him.
asserted
labels → become → him
Then he comes back from having his knee worked on and does this.
asserted
knee → come → this
“Brock has always been a guy that we count on, but to come off of an injury and play the way that he did; it’s very, very impressive.
asserted
it → count → way
We needed it.
asserted
We → need → it
We are not surprised by that with Brock,” Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said.
asserted
Kubiak → surprise → Brock
Bowers himself offered a considerably less dramatic accounting of the knee issue.
asserted
Bowers → offer → issue
“I thought it was kind of nothing I thought it would go away at the start of the season.
asserted
it → think → season
But no, just had to get it done before the long stretch of the season.
asserted
it → have → season
”
Just had to get it done.
asserted
it → get → ?
As if he had dropped off his truck for maintenance.
asserted
he → drop → maintenance
The casual explanation should not obscure the work involved.
asserted
explanation → obscure → work
Tucker pointed to his teammate’s resilience and work ethic.
asserted
Tucker → point → resilience
Being exceptionally gifted does not handle the rehabilitation for you.
asserted
Being → handle → you
Bowers put himself in position to return.
asserted
Bowers → put → position
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
