I want to be upset, but let’s face it, this loss was expected, even if it was on the national stage. The 25-6 loss to the Patriots leaves the Bills at 2-6 and with one of the worst records in the NFL. One of the bright spots of the night was former Bills great RB Thurman Thomas getting his #34 retired forever. It was an incredible ceremony for a truly special player. Unfortunately, along with the less than stellar record, the Bills suffered several key injuries which put the offense in even greater doubt heading into a Week 9 showdown with the Chicago Bears. Today’s post will review all the recent roster changes, injuries, and how these impact the Bills moving forward.
Recent personnel changes include P Corey Bojorquez (shoulder) and RB Taiwan Jones (neck) were sent to IR with their respective injuries. Bojorquez, if you recall, suffered a right shoulder injury in the failed field goal fake in the win over the Titans. I had suspected that he suffered a SLAP lesion which is short for superior labral tear from anterior to posterior. Basically, he tore his labrum which explains the shoulder brace that he had to wear the next several weeks. Expect him to get surgery to correct the tear and miss the rest of the season. This may have also been a way to stash a player they like on the roster for next season without releasing him. Jones continues to be a mystery, suffering a neck injury in the loss to the Texans, but as mentioned before, there was no mechanism of injury that I was able to observe during his time on the field which makes me wonder what he exactly did. It appears that this is a serious enough injury to warrant IR and I do not believe that he would be expected that he would be able to return. If new information is available, you will hear it here first.
As a result of the above mentioned going to IR, the Bills signed QB Matt Barkley, P Colton Schmidt, and WR Terrell Pryor. As you may recall, Schmidt was a member of the Bills from 2014-2017 until his release in 2018 prior to Week 1. As the result of Bojorquez’s injury, Schmidt comes back to a familiar special teams scheme. Barkley comes to the Bills as a free agent and will act as a backup in the event that QB Derek Anderson is not available. With Barkley’s signing, the team released CB Dontae Johnson who appeared in one game with no stats.
Finally, WR Terrell Pryor comes to the Bills via free agency after being released from the Jets with an injury settlement with a groin injury in Week 6. Over the past 2 seasons, Pryor has been injured with a deltoid ligament tear located in the medial ankle that eventually forced him to IR during his time in Washington. This injury led him to eventually sign with the Jets in the off-season. During off season workouts, Pryor broke his ankle which cost him most of training camp which eventually led to his limited role with the Jets and eventual release due to the previously mentioned groin strain. Pryor immediately upgrades the WR corps and adds a 3rd weapon for whoever is behind center come Sunday. While I do not believe his time in Buffalo will be long, he will hopefully add a new dimension to the offense in order to provide a spark. In the event that the Bills QB situation continues to be murky, he could provide another option behind center as he came into the league as a QB from Ohio State in 2011.
Reviewing injuries sustained in Monday’s loss include: LB Tremaine Edmunds (concussion), suffered a helmet to helmet hit on FB James Devlin with 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. He was able to finish out the half but had concussion like symptoms upon entering the locker room which led to his removal from the game. It may have been the Devlin hit or it could have been another routine play as he was heavily involved in the 1st half. Once he goes through the concussion protocol, he will be cleared but considering we are unable to identify the severity on film, only time will tell how he responds to recovery. In the event that Edmunds cannot start, LB Julian Stanford will get the start.
QB Derek Anderson (concussion) suffered his concussion with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter on a sack from LB Kyle Van Noy with a clean tackle that forced Anderson’s head to appear to whiplash coming down which would have led to the concussion rather than a direct blow to the head. Similar to Edmunds, time will tell how he responds through the week. The above mentioned signing of QB Matt Barkley is insurance in the event that Anderson is not available Sunday. QB Nathan Peterman is slated to start in Anderson’s absence.
Finally, T Dion Dawkins suffered some time of ankle injury midway through the 3rd quarter according to the initial radio broadcast; however, reviewing film did not reveal any injury along with missed time and he was able to finish out the game. He did not show up on the injury report and this may be non-factor moving forward.
Overall, the Bills did have minimal injury coming out of Monday’s loss, however the uncertainty of the concussion’s of Edmunds and Anderson leaves the leaders of the defense and offense, respectively, in doubt. This team will have to scrape and claw for each and every win the rest of the season in order to just stay competitive. As a fan it is tough to see the front office staff punt this season away but their long term vision is much greater than one season and should lead to long term, sustained success.
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