2025 NFL Week 5 Buzz: Brock Bowers Misses Practice

Who’s starting, who’s hurt, and who’s on the move? 

NFL news is nonstop, and we’re breaking it all down week by week this season.

Here’s the latest on what’s happening around the league entering Week 5:

Brock Bowers status in doubt

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers has been playing through an injury since Week 1. He’s toughed it out to this point, missing zero practices or games. But on Thursday, Bowers did not practice, signaling that he may have sustained a setback to his knee injury. It will be interesting to see how he progresses as the Raiders desperately need him healthy when they play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Terry McLaurin officially ruled out

Washington Commanders’ top wide receiver Terry McLaurin will officially miss his second game of the 2025 season as he’s dealing with a quadriceps injury. He hasn’t practiced in two weeks, and while the Commanders are certain he should avoid surgery, the decision to rule him out Thursday doesn’t bode well for his availability in the immediate future. McLaurin will be out for Washington’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, and possibly future weeks as well.

Key players for Panthers, Titans miss practice

Carolina Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard missed practice for the second straight day with a calf issue, while Tennessee Titans WR Calvin Ridley didn’t practice on Thursday because of knee and elbow injuries. If both miss, it would be brutal for each of their teams. The Panthers face the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, who are susceptible to a solid run game, while the Titans are still searching for their first win of the season and could struggle without Ridley against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Indianapolis Colts’ top wide receiver is dealing with a hamstring injury that limited him in practice on Oct. 2, per NFL Media. Pittman has totaled 21 receptions for 234 yards and three touchdowns through four games for a Colts team that’s atop the AFC South at 3-1.

J.J. McCarthy moves to “next phase” of ankle rehab

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will begin to get “a little bit more active” but won’t be rushed back from a sprained right ankle, head coach Kevin O’Connell said Wednesday.

McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season after undergoing knee surgery, is “working his way back,” O’Connell said after practice near the team’s hotel north of London.

“He is kind of entering the next phase of his rehab where he can get a little bit more active. Looking forward to getting him back on the field practicing with the team as soon as we can,” O’Connell said.

“But at the same time we want to be really smart and make sure we let that high ankle fully heal,” he added. “Then he can really start attacking it and working his technique and fundamentals and get re-acclimated, which I think he’ll do pretty quickly.”

The Vikings have their bye week next week before they host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

Cardinals place Benson on IR

The Arizona Cardinals have placed running back Trey Benson on injured reserve because of a knee injury, putting another dent into the team’s backfield depth.

Coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed on Wednesday that Benson will be out at least four weeks, but could return later in the season. The second-year back out of Florida State has run for 160 yards this season.

Benson had just moved into the starter’s role after veteran James Conner went down with a season-ending foot injury against the 49ers on Sept. 21. Conner had run for at least 1,000 yards in each of the previous two seasons.

Buccaneers running back week-to-week

Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving is deemed to be “week-to-week” with a foot sprain, per ESPN. Irving has rushed for 237 yards on 3.3 yards per carry this season, while totaling 19 receptions for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Tampa Bay is in first place in the NFC South at 3-1. Last season, Irving rushed for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns on 5.4 yards per carry, while tallying 392 receiving yards in what was his rookie season.

Browns make QB change

Cleveland is benching veteran quarterback Joe Flacco for rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, per NFL Media. Flacco will serve as Gabriel’s backup, with rookie fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders remaining the emergency third-string quarterback for Cleveland’s Week 5 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in London. Gabriel has thrown four passes this season, including an 8-yard touchdown pass in Week 2. The Browns are averaging just 14.0 points per game, good for 31st in the NFL.

The Ravens will go the rest of the 2025 season with defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, as head coach John Harbaugh announced on Monday that a neck injury was ending his year.

Harbaugh also announced the team will be without two additional defensive starters for an extended time. Smith is out with a Grade 2 hamstring strain while Humphrey is dealing with a calf injury; both are expected to miss multiple weeks.

Baltimore placed Madubuike on injured reserve on Saturday, which meant he would have missed at least the next four games. In Week 3’s Monday night game against the Lions, which Detroit won 38-30, the Ravens allowed 227 rushing yards to the Lions and Baltimore failed to record a sack –the absence of Madubuike significantly contributed to those results. In Week 4, the Ravens lost to the Chiefs, 37-20. 

Madubuike was named to the Pro Bowl in the previous two seasons, and logged 5.5, 13, and 6.5 sacks in the last three years, respectively, as well as a combined 141 tackles in that stretch.

Browns lose two WRs to injury for “weeks”

Wide receivers Cedric Tillman and DeAndre Carter are both injured, and according to Browns’ coach Kevin Stefanski, the pair will each be out for multiple weeks before they can return, per ESPN.

Tillman injured his hamstring early in Sunday’s contest against the Lions, exiting the game in the second quarter before briefly reentering it and then being removed from the game. Carter, a kick returner, injured his knee returning a kick in the fourth quarter. 

Lamar Jackson was out regardless of score

On Sunday, the Ravens’ quarterback injured his hamstring, keeping him from returning to the loss against the Chiefs. According to coach John Harbaugh by way of ESPN, Jackson was out regardless – that the Ravens were losing 30-13 in the third quarter at the time of the injury didn’t play into his sitting out the rest of the matchup. “There was no way he could have gone back in the game,” Harbaugh explained on Monday.

Harbaugh did say after Sunday’s game, per ESPN, that he did not believe any of the injuries suffered by his players against the Chiefs were season-ending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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