What do you even say after that game? I’m with you, utter disbelief that the talent on this team gets you a 5-5 record and a dwindling opportunity to make the playoffs. There are far smarter people who can give you football analysis and the breakdown of firing Ken Dorsey.
You’re here for injury analysis and that’s what I pride myself on to provide the most complete breakdown of every injury that happens in a Bills uniform. Check it out below.
In-Game Injuries
DT Jordan Phillips (Wind Knocked Out)
Phillips briefly required the assistance of training staff coming off the field after he was tripped up early in the second quarter. The view below shows the best possible angle of what happened as he got his feet taken out from under him. His head and shoulder do hit the turf but he was able to walk off under his own power.
Fortunately, Phillips was able to return to the game and play in 31 percent of snaps, several less than what he has seen in the past few weeks. This appears to be more hurt than injured instance.
CB Cam Lewis (Right Shin Contusion)
Lewis got tangled up with Quintin Morris on a kickoff midway through the second quarter as seen below.
At the end of the clip, he can be seen grabbing his right shin, looking as though he was cleated by Morris. Fortunately, Lewis was not out long as he was given a designation of a shin contusion and was able to return for the next kickoff.
CB Cam Lewis (Right Stinger)
Lewis had to exit the game with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter following a hit in which his head was forcibly snapped to the right side as seen in the clip below.
At the beginning of the clip, you can see him grabbing at his right bicep and in discomfort as he walks off. Due to how the head snaps to the right and where he is motioning, there is a strong likelihood that this was a stinger. While stingers are usually isolated, we did see Micah Hyde miss last week due to a neck/stinger designation.
Furthermore, Lewis left the Week 6 contest against the New York Giants with a stinger suffered on special teams. Hopefully, these issues are independent of each other but stingers several weeks apart could be a sign of underlying neck issues. We should get more information in the coming days, but certainly a depth injury to watch.
WR Trent Sherfield (Ankle)
Sherfield was a surprise exit from the game as his injury wasn’t shown on replay or even easily identified. Reports including from the Bills PR department indicated that he was questionable and later ruled out with an ankle injury. This was just prior to the half and appeared to happen on the two-point conversion following the Dalton Kincaid touchdown.
Looking at the film above, the camera pans away from Sherfield in the endzone as he tries to get separated from his coverage. He plants several times hard on his feet but there doesn’t appear to be much of a mechanism of injury for Sherfield at that time.
The next play shows him on kickoff on the right side of the video half-jogging down the field before exiting. He only appeared in nine offensive snaps and three special teams snaps which allowed me to go look at every play he was in. Nothing sticks out which is concerning, but as the week progresses, things will become clearer.
Other Observations
LB Terrel Bernard/DE Leonard Floyd (X-Rays)
Both players went in for X-rays following the game though there were not specifics of the exact injuries they required imaging for. Floyd has been battling through a right ankle injury since Week 2 whereas Bernard has been battling knee and lower extremity injuries all season in addition to the concussion last week.
I did have the opportunity to look at the defensive snaps of Floyd & Bernard prior to posting this. There wasn’t much for Floyd that could have caused injury whereas Bernard had double-digit instances where injury could have occurred or he was a little slow to get up.
When the injury report comes out later today, there should be a clearer understanding of the exact injuries and where they may be possibly found on film.
This is a tough season, but this team is too talented to roll over and die. I do expect them to fight and continue to take it week by week, but the concern is, is the hole too deep to crawl out of with so many AFC losses already. There are seven games left, let’s see what the Bills can do over the next two months. Crazier things have happened for this fan base in the past.
Top Photo Credit: Getty Images
