Another week, another win! Josh Allen continues to own Miami! With a 31-28 win, the Bills move to 2-0 and into sole possession of first place in the AFC East. While the game was close than most would have liked, the defense held up despite missing Matt Milano & Tremaine Edmunds. Fortunately, Allen and the Bills offense exploded for yardage not seen in the better part of a decade and picked up the slack.
While the Bills were exploding offensively, they were also avoiding the plague of injuries cast over the NFL. McCaffery, Saquon, Sutton, Bosa, Irvin, Mosert, Lock, Hooker & many more all went down with either season ending injuries or severe injuries that will cost them most of the season. While it is impossible to predict injuries, the hope is that the Bills continue to maintain quality depth if misfortune strikes. It was truly a day of carnage not seen recently & certainly altered the course of several franchises in 2020.
Below are the Bills injuries from Week 2.
TE Dawson Knox (concussion)
Knox left the game with just under 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter with media reporting shortly afterward that he was ruled out with a concussion. His last play before coming out, his helmet did strike a defender, but the play did not appear out of the ordinary.
He was later ruled out with a concussion for the day. Either the injury spotters saw something and pulled him from the game or he self reported symptoms. It is also not known when he suffered the concussion nor will we likely know unless Knox tells us himself.
Some on Twitter thought that he suffered the concussion when he fumbled the ball following a catch. It’s quite possible he did suffer one and then had a delayed onset of symptoms or it could have been any other play. Concussions are impossible to diagnose on film due to the unpredictability of each play.
Knox entered the concussion protocol seen below and it is anyone’s guess when he passes through to be cleared. There is a chance he could clear in time for next week as we saw happen with Josh Allen, or he could miss a game or two. Until we see him practicing symptom free, it is a waiting game.
DT Ed Oliver (right shin contusion)
Oliver suffered a right shin injury while trying to trip the Miami offensive player, resulting in his shin getting struck hard. He walked gingerly off the field with trainers and was out briefly, but was able to return after several plays off.
Besides pain, there is not any structural damage that can take place unless he suffered a fracture or bone bruise. I’m sure there will be some soreness or bruising to the area which won’t be fun to deal with. He might be on the injury report Wednesday, do not be alarmed. Barring new information, there is little chance that there is structural damage. He’s dealing with pain that he can likely play through.
Other thoughts
Sean McDermott noted that Edmunds, Del’Shawn Phillips & Milano continue to work through some things. That’s coach speak for I don’t want to give the Rams anything. We will have to see how they practice this week. I am expecting to see Edmunds practice in full, possibly Phillips in some capacity & hoping for Milano to at least be limited. The former two have a decent shot at playing Sunday based on what we know whereas Milano is still a longshot unless he’s practicing in full. By Friday, the picture will be clear.
To wrap things up, some were concerned about Zack Moss being out late in the game. He limped off the field midway through the 4th after a catch and but fortunately returned at the very end.
During the catch and run, he fell hard onto his buttocks, but there was not any clear mechanism of injury from what we could see. Unless we get new information, I don’t believe there is anything to be concerned about. If he shows up on the injury report, at least we have an idea of where he could have been injured.
Finally, I mentioned the numerous injuries above. The Bills are far from immune in that sense. We will have injuries, we saw this already with Jon Feliciano this season. There’s a good chance others still happen. I can’t predict who or when or what the injury will be, but know that the Bills have the depth and football is a violent game, injuries are expected.
The Bills go back to Orchard Park to host the Rams for Week 3 on Sunday. It’ll be warm and rainy right now as the weather forecast states. Like Week 1, that could impact who plays and who sits out. Continue to check back for the latest news & injury updates on your Buffalo Bills.
