The Buffalo Bills completed practice and released their final injury report for Week 8. We now know very little more than we did when this week started, but we do know three players who will not be in uniform
on Sunday when the Bills face the Carolina Panthers.
On Friday, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott announced that the team would be placing safety Taylor Rapp on Injured Reserve. Rapp has apparently been dealing with a knee injury since training camp, but hasn’t been on the team’s daily injury reports until this week. Now he’s done for at least four weeks, possibly more since he won’t be able to practice until the start of Week 12.
Who will replace Rapp? Most likely we will see another Jordan Poyer elevation this week. However, the Bills aren’t hurrying to move him to the active roster. They do have rookie Jordan Hancock, who we’ve yet to see much from, and veteran Sam Franklin, Jr. who is the team’s special teams gunner this season.
While Rapp may have come as a bit of a surprise, the other two players ruled out ahead of Sunday do not: DaQuan Jones, who injured his calf in warm ups before the Bills’ Week 6 loss in Atlanta, and Joshua Palmer, who was injured midway through that same game.
The Bills could elevate Jordan Phillips for Sunday (it would be his third and final elevation) or Phidarian Mathis. However, with the return of Larry Ogunjobi, and the deficiencies in the defensive secondary, I wouldn’t expect this to be the move.
Palmer is injured, but not placing him on IR indicates it might not have been as bad as it looked that Monday night two weeks ago. A high ankle sprain is going to keep him sidelined for this week and possibly another one. However, Curtis Samuel has apparently recovered from his rib injury and is the only Bill on the injury report to enter the weekend without a designation. While it’s not ideal, it makes McDermott’s job easier – he knows which of the six Buffalo receivers to sit on Sunday.
A bigger problem is that tight end Dalton Kincaid is still questionable. Kincaid, who looked to finally be having that breakout year we’ve all been craving, has been sidelined with an oblique injury he suffered in Week 5. Unfortunately, even after an extra week of rest thanks to the Week 7 bye, the third-year tight end still isn’t healthy.
Linebacker Matt Milano could make his return this week, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The Bills brought him back a little too early once already this season. He’s officially questionable, but if it was me, I would think of him more as doubtful. One thing that could swing that decision is the availability of Terrel Bernard. The Bills defensive captain injured an ankle in Atlanta, returned to play, and has been limited all week. He’s officially questionable for Sunday, but if he can go, Milano probably won’t.
Maxwell Hairston is officially listed as questionable as well. However, before the Bills’ first round draft pick can play, they will have to add him to the 53-man roster. There’s plenty of space with the movement of Rapp and, previously, Damar Hamlin, to IR. But, whether or not Buffalo is confident getting the cornerback, who missed almost all of training camp and all of the preseason games, on the field yet is something that, according to McDermott, “we’ll see.”
On the other side of the football field will be the Panthers, who will most likely be without quarterback Bryce Young, who they officially listed as doubtful. Young has been trying to convince the entirety of the NFL that he would be able to play this weekend after suffering a high ankle sprain last week. It appears that everyone except the third-year quarterback himself knew that wasn’t going to happen. Now, Carolina may be trying to let him down easy by not officially ruling him out just yet.
Teams have until an hour and a half before kickoff to announce their game day roster, including any practice squad elevations. So, it will be 11:30 am on Sunday before all these question marks get removed – one way or the other.
