The Buffalo Bills started out slowly on Sunday before pulling away to win 34-10 over the Tennessee Titans to move to 5-2 on the season. After being down 10-7 at the half, the Bills rattled off 27 unanswered points to secure the win.
Unfortunately, the Bills suffered a number of different injuries throughout the day of varying levels of severity. Below are all the injuries coming out of Sunday’s win and analysis.
In-Game Injuries
WR Curtis Samuel (Right Shoulder)
Appearing in only two plays, Samuel exited on his second play with 10:18 left in the first when he failed to secure a catch on a tipped pass by Jeffery Simmons. Samuel fell to the turf hitting his right elbow and walked off. Reports I indicated he was in the blue medical tent and later deemed questionable with a shoulder before being downgraded to out.
Looking at the video, his elbow hits the ground which would have pushed the humeral head into the shoulder. This could have caused a capsular injury which is the layer of tissue that helps keep the shoulder in place. This could have also caused a rotator cuff injury as those tendons also connect in that area.
Note the general area where it says capsular ligament. This would also be on the backside portion of the shoulder.
The possibility of a posterior labrum tear can’t be discounted though I’m not as certain this is the injury. He doesn’t hit the lateral portion of his shoulder which rules out AC joint sprain. He likely had to sit out the rest of the game as the shoulder began to lose range of motion due to the pain and he would have begun to have difficulties with overhead motion and catching the football away from the body. Blocking and taking further hits would have only exacerbated whatever structure was injured in there as well.
As there is not any additional information on him at this time, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that he could miss next week or two as he rehabs the shoulder. This injury could linger for a while.
DL Dawaune Smoot (Undisclosed)
Smoot briefly had to exit the game midway through the second quarter going into the medical tent.
Looking at the film, there wasn’t anything notable in the several minutes before it was reported he was in the tent and he was able to go out onto the field for the Terrel Bernard fumble recovery to celebrate. This is one we need more information on as to what to look for. He did return to the field and finish the game.
LB Terrel Bernard (Head/Right Ankle)
Bernard was evaluated for a concussion on the strip sack by Epenesa as noted below. It’s hard to discern when he took a shot to the head, but you can see him double over at the very end of the clip before he goes off and into the blue medical tent.
Fortunately, after an assessment he was cleared and returned to the game.
Regrettably, Bernard suffered yet another injury, this time to his right ankle when the bottom of his foot was stepped on as he tried to penetrate the offensive line. His foot being stepped on forced his ankle into plantarflexion and inversion, stressing the lateral aspect of his right ankle.
The mechanism closely resembles a low ankle sprain and while these are usually not too concerning, this is the same ankle that he injured last year twice. He originally injured the ankle against the Chargers and then again during the Steelers Wild Card win, the latter being when his ankle essentially dislocated. He had attempted to get ready to play but ultimately could not in the divisional round.
While his ankle does have some residual laxity due to the previous injury, I would expect the ligaments including the anterior talofibular ligament and calcanenofibular ligament were damaged along with any scar tissue from the previous injury.
We need to see how his ankle responds to rehab and what he will be able to do this week in practice will be the key indicators. It would not be surprising if he does miss next week’s game.
Update 10:25 pm: After seeing additional footage including the two plays he returned for before he exited, this injury may be more complex than I had anticipated.
There may be damage to the peroneal tendon which is seen when rolling the ankle during a lateral ankle sprain. Seeing how he changed from moving around well to limping like he did after and seeing the foot having difficulty lifting up had me reconsider things.
We need more info on this one before a timeline can be established. Best case is that it’s an ankle sprain that didn’t respond to returning to play. There are possibilities of it being worse but we will discuss that if/when we get news.
G O’Cyrus Torrence (Undisclosed)
Torrence briefly had to be assessed in the medical tent after suffering an unknown injury. The injury happened just prior to the Amari Cooper touchdown. Looking at the plays at 10:29 and 10:28 from the sideline and end zone views, there is not a clear view of when Torrence is injured. There are either bodies in the way or the camera pans away to where the ball is thrown.
Whatever the injury was, it did not force Torrance to miss any snaps. We need more information including whether he shows up on the injury report.
TE Dawson Knox (Undisclosed)
Knox briefly required attention in the medical tent midway through the fourth quarter for an unknown issue. Looking at the timestamps, he was only in there for one minute which means there may not have been any actual issues.
He did have his right ankle taped coming into the game and looked to have it addressed throughout the game, but it’s unclear whether this was the reason he went into the medical tent.
He did appear to favor the right ankle after the play right before the Ty Johnson touchdown but it’s not clear if this led to him going into the medical tent.
LB Dorian Williams (Knee)
Williams left the game after this play with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter. You can see him jump into the pile and as he comes across, his right knee lands. There is a Titans player that comes across and appears to hit his left knee as you can see Williams head snap back as though he is in pain.
Looking at the end zone view, his right leg may have been caught up under the pile and a Titans player appears to hit him, potentially tweaking the right knee. He was later ruled probable and did return for the final special teams play, a kickoff before the final Titans offensive series.
As of publication, we need more information to establish a timeline though McDermott hinted at day-to-day. This injury appears less severe than Bernard’s or Samuel’s.
DT Dewayne Carter (Undisclosed)
Carter had to go for x-rays after the game and later stated that he was fine. Looming at the film did not reveal anything as to why he required x-rays which means we need more info. There are two instances where he could have injured his neck which could have required further assessment, but even those plays were not definitive.
Update: Carter is seen in a picture with a brace on his right hand with thumb support. This may explain why he underwent x-rays. I’ll be watching for a hand injury on the injury report come Wednesday.
Other Observations
RB Ray Davis (Calf)
For someone who I didn’t think was healthy enough to play after tweaking his calf last Sunday and then again on Thursday, he had himself quite a day. 5 carries on 41 yards and a touchdown along with one reception for six yards is great work coming off a calf injury. All of that production on only 13 snaps which indicates the Bills limited his workload but he was still incredibly efficient. I got that one wrong.
DT DaQuan Jones (Right Shoulder)/C Connor McGovern (Left Shoulder)
Final Thoughts
Overall, ugly first half but the Bills pulled away when it mattered and got the win. I’m hoping that some of the names fall off the injury report because it is getting quite lengthy and tough to keep up with.
Looking at Seattle’s injury report, they have a long list themselves and they’ll possibly be without DK Metcalf based on the play noted below. He may be one of the biggest injuries to watch heading into Week 8.
We will get more updates on Wednesday when the first injury reports come out including information on Bernard, Samuel, and other unknown injuries.
Top Photo Credit: Buffalo Rumblings
