The Buffalo Bills fell to the New York Giants in the last preseason game at Highmark Stadium on Saturday. With the final score 34-25, this drops the Bills to 0-1 in the preseason but this was the first live action we got from plenty of the rookies and free agents.
Some flashes while others struggled but what was most important was that there were no major injuries coming out of Saturday’s game.
Read below for the latest injury updates coming out of Saturday’s loss and analysis moving forward.
In-Game Injuries
CB Taron Johnson (Concussion Check)
With 3:52 left in the first quarter, Johnson tackled Giants TE Greg Dulcich before he came up slow. He was initially assessed by the athletic trainers before being escorted to the medical tent for a concussion check. Fortunately, he was cleared to return to the game but he did not as his day was done.
Looking at the video, Johnson’s head appears to snap back when he makes contact with Dulcich. This hit suggests more of a stinger which he has had several times before including last season against the Denver Broncos. I would expect Johnson to potentially miss a practice or two or even wear a red non-contact jersey at some point next week.
LB Keonta Jenkins (Left Hand Laceration)
Jenkins suffered a left hand laceration when his hand struck a Giants player as seen below with 6:45 left in the second quarter.
It’s not clear how he suffered the laceration but he did have the hand wrapped up around the fourth and fifth digits prior to coming off. He may have been dealing with something prior and this wasn’t publicly known. However, he got taped up, got back out there, and this should not be an issue moving forward.
CB Daequan Hardy (Right Shoulder)
Hardy suffered the most severe injury of the day when he tackled Gunner Olszewski with 8:47 left in the third quarter. He stayed in for two more plays but did not engage with the play as he favored his right shoulder. He did grab at his right shoulder, most notably at the chest area before he went off with the athletic trainers.
He later went for x-rays and was doubtful to return. It’s not exactly clear what area of the shoulder he injured. It’s doubtful that he suffered a collarbone fracture as he would have stayed down immediately and would have required immediate attention. There is a possibility for an AC joint sprain but he rotates down to the ground instead of falling directly on the outside part of the shoulder. Labrum or rotator cuff are possible but how he landed with the arm close to his body doesn’t suggest that’s the issue either.
He may have injured his sternoclavicular joint or SC joint based on how the back of his shoulder hit which could have forced the shoulder forward and jammed the joint together, causing a sprain.
Additional information would be helpful as to identify the exact injury and timeline for return.
S Wande Owens (Bloody Nose)
Owens briefly required medical attention from athletic trainers with 11:35 left in the fourth quarter. Reports on the broadcast later indicated that he had suffered a bloody nose and was cleared to return.
Other Observations
CB Maxwell Hairston (Right LCL Sprain)
We don’t have much new information regarding Hairston’s recovery other than he is without crutches and fully weight bearing indicating his knee is getting stronger. It is still several weeks before we should see him perform football activities but he is moving in the right direction.
WR Curtis Samuel (Hamstring)
Samuel was going through full warmups on Saturday although he didn’t play. This was the first notable action we saw him do since July 25 when he injured his hamstring. This signifies that he should be back to practice next week and get back into the swing of things and contribute to the offense.
There is still a roughly 33 percent chance that he could reinjure his hamstring in future practices or games, but the team knows his injury concerns and likely held him out longer to ensure he was truly healthy.
S Cole Bishop (Left Quad)
Like Samuel, Bishop returned to warmups on Saturday after suffering his quad injury back on July 29. Based on this timeline, this was a quad strain which isn’t great for his development as he continues to miss reps.
Hopefully he continues to ramp his workload up and has no further issues.
Final Thoughts
Outside of Hardy, there weren’t any major injury concerns coming out of Saturday. I expect to see several more players sidelined on Monday at practice with unreported injuries, but we should see several players return too.
Regardless of outcome, this was a pretty ideal day in terms of injuries. The Bills have two more games to go and four weeks until the season opener. Make sure to stay tuned for the latest injury updates and analysis.
Top Photo Credit: WGRZ
Discover more from Banged Up Bills
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
