Georgia All-American tight end
Brock Bowers will have surgery on his injured left ankle Monday, the school announced.
Bowers, the
No. 4 NFL draft prospect on ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest Big Board,
suffered a high ankle sprain in the first half of the No. 1 Bulldogs'
37-20 victory against
Vanderbilt on Saturday and did not return.
Georgia said a full recovery is anticipated, but an exact timeline of Bowers' return is unclear. Sources said he is expected to undergo TightRope surgery, which involves using surgical thread instead of metal screws and is designed to accelerate recovery.
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The typical recovery time for a TightRope surgical procedure is four to six weeks.
He is the third Georgia player to have the procedure this season. Starting right tackle
Amarius Mims, a preseason All-SEC pick, had the surgery after suffering a high ankle sprain in mid-September, and he hasn't yet returned to the field. Tight end
Lawson Luckie had the procedure in mid-August and recently returned to action.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had the surgery at
Alabama in 2018 and was out for a month. Wide receiver Cedric Tillman had the surgery at
Tennessee last year and missed four games.
Bowers, a junior from Napa, California, was helped off the field by trainers with 7:24 remaining in the second quarter. He was taken to the medical tent on the sideline and then helped to the locker room for X-rays. He had 4 catches for 22 yards before exiting vs. Vanderbilt.