Brock Bowers injury update: Georgia football tight end to undergo ankle surgery

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers will undergo ankle surgery on Monday, the Bulldogs have announced.

Bowers suffered a high ankle sprain in UGA’s 37-20 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. Multiple reports indicate Bowers will need Tightrope surgery, a common procedure for athletes that will presumably knock him out of competition for several weeks. Bowers, one of the top projected picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, is also anticipated to make a full recovery, per the school.

More: Brock Bowers injury: What we know about the Georgia football tight end

The reigning John Mackey Award winner leads the Bulldogs in receptions (41), receiving yards (567) and receiving touchdowns (four) this season. Bowers also established himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate before the injury.

No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) will be without perhaps its best player for its rivalry game against Florida (5-2, 3-1) in Jacksonville in Week 9.

Here’s everything you need to know about Bowers’ injury, including his timetable for return:

Brock Bowers injury update

Bowers had his ankle rolled by Vanderbilt Savion Riley, causing him to exit the game. He tried to walk off on his own power before falling to his knees and punching the turf in frustration:

UGA announced Monday that Bowers will undergo ankle surgery on Monday. Although Georgia didn’t confirm the severity, he is likely to undergo Tightrope surgery, a common football injury.

More: How would Georgia football fare if star tight end Brock Bowers has to miss games?

What is Brock Bowers’ injury?

Bowers suffered a high ankle sprain in the Bulldogs’ 37-20 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. The severity of the sprain has yet to be determined, though it was clearly enough to warrant surgical repair.

How long is Brock Bowers out?

Georgia didn’t announce a timetable for Bowers' return, but multiple reports have suggested he could miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks to the entire season.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Monday that Bowers is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg both reported Bowers is likely to miss the rest of the season.

Of note: Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had the Tightrope procedure done in both 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he returned to practice two weeks after the surgery; he then played against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff, 28 days after the procedure.

In 2019, Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury against Tennessee on Oct. 19 and returned Nov. 9 against LSU.

What is Tightrope surgery?

Tightrope surgery has become popularized among athletes in recent years for accelerated recovery times. The system was developed by Arthrex.

Tighrope surgery is a relatively new innovation: In an interview with the Athens Banner-Herald in September, Dr. Kenneth Jung of Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles said the surgery is performed for high ankle sprains and uses sutures instead of screws across the tibia and fibula in the lower leg.

Jung said it can take four weeks to 12 weeks to recover.

“With the Tightropes, it affords us the ability to connect to the two bones, stabilize the two bones with the suture that allows what we call physiological motion or normal motion at that area,” Jung said. “There isn’t the risk of screw breakage so you can rehab the athletes or individual a little quicker just because you’ve restored that stability and you’re not worried about the implant breaking.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Brock Bowers injury update: Georgia tight end to undergo ankle surgery