The Buffalo Bills thumped the Seattle Seahawks 31-10 on Sunday to move to 6-2 on the season. After a cross-country flight, rainy weather, and missing key defensive players in Terrel Bernard and DeWayne Carter, the Bills started out fast and never really let the Seahawks threaten to take over the game.
On top of the solid win, the Bills managed to avoid major injury again, this time not even requiring the training staff to tend to anyone on the field. But as football is, guys still get banged up and suffer smaller injuries that require attention we don’t initially see.
Below are the injuries coming out of Sunday’s win and observations.
In-Game Injuries
Coming out of Monday’s press conference:
WR Amari Cooper (Left Stinger)
Cooper’s injury was brief as he was hit on the right side of his helmet, snapping his head to the left. This occurred with 9:28 left in the third quarter. You can see him go down in pain grabbing at his trapezius muscle. What’s not shown is right before the next play, he was seen rolling his shoulder out.
By video, it looks as though he suffered a stinger which compressed the nerves in the neck as noted in the picture above. Oftentimes, stingers are temporary and have no lasting effects. However, we have seen instances where the stinger is the symptom of the underlying cause which includes disc herniations and spinal stenosis. Cooper’s medical history does not appear to suggest that he has any chronic neck problems, but highlighting things now in case there is a pattern later can help us identify a potential problem.
He was able to play in 10 more plays throughout the second half indicating that the injury did not limit his snaps.
OT Dion Dawkins (Left foot/ankle)
Dawkins came up limping during the final offensive series after a massive block which sprung James Cook for a 12 yard gain. In the clip below, Dawkins is limping off a left foot/ankle injury not originally seen on the broadcast.
Looking for a better view as to what happened, the broadcast view shows Dawkins rotate over and slam the outside portion of his left leg against the field. This appears to be more hurt than injured, but if Dawkins does appear on the injury report this week due to a foot or ankle ailment, this is a likely culprit.
Other Observations
The team did incredibly well being down Terrel Bernard and DeWayne Carter. Yes, Curtis Samuel was out too but he hasn’t done much on offense to move the needle. Looking at Samuel, he is exactly who we thought he was when he signed. The only difference was that he was productive in previous stops.
We know that Carter is out for at least the next four games and can possibly return in Week 13 after missing five weeks. Samuel will possibly be out at least another week and Bernard is a wait and see. Hopefully he can return to practice this week which should give us a better idea how his ankle is moving and if there are any stability issues. Additionally, Von Miller returns from his four-game suspension this week.
The Bills host a reeling Miami Dolphins team that is 2-5 and desperate for a win. They are missing several key pieces from the last time they played but will be motivated to claw back into the playoff race. Make sure to check back for more updates throughout the week as the Bills get set to host the Dolphins on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
Top Photo Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
