Well, thank god the preseason is over. It always seems as though we are so starved for football each and every year, we tend to overreact on how poorly the Bills have played. Last year, the Bills finished 1-3 in the preseason, it was nearly deja vu all over again in 2018. Somehow, they found a way to pull out a last second win over the Bears by a score of 28-27 with 25 unanswered points despite sloppy and ineffective play in the first half. However, a win is a win and the Bills finish the preseason with a record of 2-2.
By design and some luck, there were no major injuries to anyone starting the regular season as a majority sat out, but those depth players playing a majority of the game also were able to avoid injury, possibly allowing them to find another team in the event they get cut.
Thankfully, there were minimal injuries to report from today’s game. First up is OL Conor McDermott who exited the game late in the 3rd quarter with a left knee injury. I was unable to see the mechanism of injury but he may have twisted it or hit it hard. From what I was able to observe, all the special tests to assess for knee damage appeared to be negative with the knee demonstrating appropriate stability in all planes of motion. He was able to re-enter the game on the next offensive series and appeared to battle through his ailment, knowing that his job depends on it. He is able to move around defensive lineman quite effectively, not showing any limitations which makes me believe he got more shook up than injured.
Next up is DE Terence Fede. The veteran end is also fighting for a depth roster spot on the D-line and attempted to make himself known during the game. However, shortly after McDermott went down with his injury, Fede injured himself on a punt return. When he went down, he appears to be pointing to his left knee and on video replay, it did not appear to really show anything. He came down grabbing at his knee but there was nothing that appeared to show any mechanism of injury. He may have hit it coming down or off a player due to the camera angle, but nothing implied that he sustained any damage. Whether this was precautionary or not, I did not see him return to the game.
Rookie WR Ray-Ray McCloud suffered a knee injury late in the 4th quarter but this may have been a knee injury that was diagnosed once he came off the field after his punt return. I was unable to see the injury occur in real time. He did not appear to have training staff come out and assess which makes me think this is more precautionary as he continues to fight for a roster spot as a special teams kick and punt returner. He may have been the most significant injury as he is a rookie draft pick and has overall shown flashes of warranting a roster spot.
As seen above, there wasn’t much to review regarding the game all of these players may not even make the team. McDermott was on the active roster last year but only appeared in 3 games. Fede appeared in 16 games last year for Miami but depending on depth needs, may find himself looking on the outside in. McCloud may make the team as a practice squad player with hopes to moving up to the 53 man roster. Overall, the Bills escaped major injury again this year which I believe is he reason they were able to bounce back last season when injuries occurred. As the team doesn’t look fantastic right now, they have back-ups that at least know the system and have been trusted to make the roster over street free agents which have hurt the Bills in past seasons.
Continue to check back for the latest updates and news on Buffalo Bills injuries as we stare down the regular season opener. Follow on Twitter @BangedUpBills, on Facebook at Banged Up Bills, on reddit at u/BangedUpBills, and www.bangedupbills.com. As always, thank you for reading and GO BILLS!!
