The Buffalo Bills continue to round out their 90-man roster as they advance through OTA’s and towards mandatory mini-camp in June. Performance, positional needs, and injuries will further shape the roster. The players listed below are signings that came after the initial scramble following the draft and partially based on the performance at rookie mini-camp.
CB Ja’Marcus Ingram
Ingram is well-traveled, starting his career at Utah State, appearing in 19 games over two years (2017-2018). He then transferred to Texas Tech for two seasons, logging 21 games (2019-2020). He finished up his collegiate career at the University of Buffalo for 11 games (2021).
Injury-wise, there is minimal information on Ingram available.
2018– Toe injury, side not specified, missed 7 games, season-ending while at Utah State.
2020– Missed 1 game (Houston Baptist) for unknown reasons while at Texas Tech.
2021– Missed 1 game (Miami OH) while at UB for unknown reasons.
The only noteworthy injury he suffered was in 2018 while at Utah State with the toe injury. Reports indicated that he suffered a turf toe injury. Considering how much time he missed, it’s possible that he suffered a plantar plate tear that required surgery.
Noting the toe injury was four years ago, there is little concern other than why he missed games in the last two seasons.
DT CJ Brewer
Brewer was part of a crop of super seniors and helped elevate Coastal Carolina into the college football stratosphere over the past several years. In total, he appeared in 58 games over a six-year period.
Brewer was noted to be quite durable, suffering only two reported injuries during his collegiate career.
2018 – Missed 3 games due to an undisclosed injury.
2021 – Sustained a groin injury, side not specified, during the Cure Bowl, missing the remainder of the game.
The groin injury isn’t a concern as he was able to participate in his pro day and there aren’t any additional reports other than from the game. In completing the research, I would like to know why he missed three games in 2018, but that has not been disclosed or I cannot find the information.
DE Daniel Joseph
Joseph is also a well-traveled player, originally from the Toronto area before going to high school in Chicago. He spent four years at Penn State with his first year being a redshirt year. He appeared in 32 games over his career but never really got to see the majority of playing time due to the talent in front of him, many of which are now in the NFL.
While at NC State, he appeared in 23 games over the previous two seasons. It’s worth noting that he was drafted fourth overall by the British Columbia Lions in the 2021 CFL Draft.
Like the others above, Joseph’s injury history is vague at best.
During his time at Penn State, several reports indicated that he dealt with lingering injuries, but the exact ailments are unknown. He played in half of the games during his redshirt freshman year, playing less due to experience versus injury. In the following two years, he missed only one game but dealt with several unknown injuries, including in 2019.
Once he transferred to NC State, there were some additional details regarding injuries.
2020 – Undisclosed injury, missed one game (Virginia), reports indicate that it wasn’t clear whether it was due to injury or COVID. Also suffered a lower-body injury against Florida State, but further details are unknown and he did not miss the following game.
2021 – Did not miss any time, but did suffer a hand/wrist injury according to reports. This forced him to leave the game three separate times in the loss to Wake Forest.
2022 – While training for the 2022 NFL Draft, he did not participate in bench press due to a nagging pectoral injury.
Joseph has been mostly available, missing only two games over four seasons. Injuries appeared to hinder his production along with getting buried on the depth chart while at Penn State. There is nothing in his known injury history that should carry over to the NFL, but the ability to take care of his body and playing while being hurt may impact his NFL dreams.
Bills Injury Impact
A UDFA can never be counted out once they sign with an NFL team. There are plenty of players that have the talent to play in the league, but sometimes it comes down to opportunities and availability.
Finding injury histories for some of these players can be difficult based on the colleges they played for and the level of reporting done at the time. There is a high likelihood that not every injury was accounted for, but this is what is available at the moment. Their injury histories won’t necessarily hold them back, more so, their own talent and players ahead of them on the Bills’ depth chart.
This is their opportunity to live out a lifelong dream, best of luck to them!
Top Photo Credit: Syracuse.com
