Well, that didn’t go very well. The Bills laid an egg with a very lopsided 47-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Nothing seemed to click Sunday with mistake after mistake piled on until changes had to be made which stopped the bleeding but the damage was already done. This was one of the more painful losses the Bills have sustained during my time as a fan mostly because while I expect that the team may regress, it should not to be that effect. However, since this is a sports injury website, I will leave the game analysis to my good friends at Cover 1 and The Rockpile Report. Check them out if you haven’t already; absolutely fantastic content for the Buffalo Bills!
Today’s post will review the injuries sustained in Sunday’s blowout loss and what this means going forward. First up is CB Taron Johnson who suffered a right shoulder injury during a textbook tackle midway through the 2nd quarter. He was able to walk off and not require any additional assistance in supporting his arm but he was eventually ruled out. Looking at video, it appeared as though he suffered a stinger, basically a hard hit. This is supported by the fact that he did not have extra support walking off the field and he was rolling his shoulder out freely exiting the field. Considering the game was out of hand, he is a rookie, and there was no benefit to him playing, he was most likely ruled out. Had he suffered any real damage, it would have been revealed by now. I expect him to practice in full and play next week.
DE Shaq Lawson suffered a right hamstring injury attempting to chase down QB Joe Flacco on the first play of the 4th quarter. Reviewing video, it appeared as though when he attempted to tackle Flacco, he slipped and fell to the ground. Once he got up, it appeared as though he tried to resume running and possibly suffered his injury. As I reviewed in my hamstring article, there are varying grades of severity. I believe that Lawson suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain which could cause him to miss 1-2 weeks. It is possible that he could play next week but his availability during practice will dictate the severity and availability.
Other injuries that the Bills are still dealing with include LB Julian Stanford and WR Ray-Ray McCloud. Stanford appears to be still doing with a broken nose and may be available next week now that he has more time to heal. As for McCloud, he is still dealing with what appeared to be a left knee injury suffered in the 4th preseason game. I really don’t have any idea what he is still out with. I suspect a sprain based on the possible hit he suffered during the punt return. Until more information is released, I can only speculate.
Those that were able to play after coming off injury include DE Trent Murphy, who was on a snap count and DT Kyle Williams. Murphy appeared in 35% of defensive snaps and 21% of special teams with no apparent re-aggravation of his groin injury. While his stats were not eye-popping which included 0.5 sack and 1 assisted tackle, it demonstrated that he was finally healthy and McDermott noted that he would increase his workload for next week.
Williams looked very efficient and did not appear to be favoring his right leg. He was able to play in 56% of defensive snaps and 21% of special teams which was in line with the other DT’s on the line. He will continue to require rest days but should return to full healthy and continue his effective play through his final year.
There may be other names that pop up on the injury report but overall the Bills continue to stay healthy. I believe this was the difference between making the playoffs and missing last season. While playoffs may not be expected this season especially after Sunday’s performance, I still believe that they will stay competitive in future games.
Continue to check back for the latest updates and Bills injury news. 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!!
