On Sunday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills fell to the New England Patriots 23-20 to drop to 4-1 on the season. The game was full of poor play and endless yellow flags from the refs that never really allowed the game to be played between the teams.
This was just a game that the Bills never felt comfortable with and every time the Bills began to move, flags, flags, flags. It’s not expected that the Bills will win every game, but this was a winnable game but lost due to sloppy play.
In addition to the poor play, there were several injuries of note coming out of the loss. Read below for a full injury analysis.
In-Game Injuries
Check back after Monday afternoon’s press conference for updates.
C Connor McGovern (Right Hand)
McGovern briefly left to go to the locker room following a routine play with 10:33 left in the second quarter. He ended up hitting and cutting the second knuckle on his snapping hand, causing it to bleed.
The athletic trainers were working on it on the sidelines but took him into the locker room for x-rays and additional treatment before he returned to the sideline. He was able to play the rest of the game and snapping didn’t appear to be an issue. He had the middle and ring finger taped up to give it support.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he is on the injury report this week due to his hand swelling up. The Bills do have an extra day to recover playing on Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons which can help. I don’t anticipate this will affect his availability in Week 6 unless there is a fracture later found.
Update: McGovern is considered day-to-day with his hand injury.
LB Matt Milano (Right Pectoral)
Milano was questionable to return with a pectoral injury in the third quarter after his last play with :37 seconds left in the second quarter.
Looking at the video above, Milano goes to wrap up Maye with a flexed right arm as he takes Maye down solo on a one arm tackle. He gets up and immediately begins to guard the arm instinctively due to the pain. Unfortunately, after it was announced he was questionable, he did not return as Shaq Thompson took over his role.
It’s also possible that he tweaked the muscle on the previous play and fully hurt it on the next play.
Milano looked healthy during practice heading into the game but regrettably, a similar mechanism led to injuring the area again. Trying to secure a one arm tackle with your previously injured arm usually isn’t a good idea.
Hindsight says that Milano should not have played, but he was fine until he wasn’t. The original thought was that he would miss two to three games and he fit the timeline. I expect that Milano will sit out next week against Atlanta and use the bye to get healthy. Whether that is enough time isn’t known until he returns to practice. Knowing they have Carolina on the other side of the bye and Kansas City in Week 9, I’d sit him until then.
Update: Milano is considered week-to-week but not an injured reserve candidate.
OT Dion Dawkins (Left Hand/Wrist)
Dawkins was seen by the Niagara Gazette’s Nick Sabato as he walked out with a left hand/wrist brace. Unfortunately for myself, Dawkins was wearing a padded glove or something similar to protect the area the entire game. This makes it incredibly difficult to identify when the injury occurred without going through 72 offensive and special teams snaps at 12:30 am.
This one will need additional information as to what he is dealing with to find a more exact play that could pinpoint his complaints.
Injury Notes
DT Ed Oliver (Left Ankle)/DT TJ Sanders (Knee)
CB Dorian Strong (Neck)
Strong is seeing a neck specialist after injuring his neck in the game against the New Orleans Saints last week. The exact injury is not clear but everything is on the table for Strong as the team works out what he could be dealing with.
This could be a cervical disc issue like we saw with Micah Hyde several years ago, it could be a foraminal stenosis issue like Aaron Williams, or it could be central cervical stenosis that was preexisting but not publicly known. There could be a non-displaced fracture or even ligament tearing. There are too many unknowns to say for certain what the issue is.
Below are several plays this could have caused this but it’s not certain that this is when it occurred.
Hopefully the second opinion allows Strong the best path moving forward.
Final Thoughts
Every loss is frustrating when as a fan, you expect the team to win. It hurts even more when you lose to a divisional rival. The Bills can rebound from this and come back to play a 2-2 Atlanta Falcons coming off a bye.
Some of these issues we’re seeing on defense will hopefully be fixed with some players returning from injured reserve and suspensions. This will help reshape the roster and allow the Bills to execute their plan from the summer as some of the competition gets stiffer.
These losses sting but the Bills can come back next week and ideally secure a win to head into the bye. Make sure to check back for the latest injury updates as more information comes available.
Top Photo Credit: Ron Schwane/AP
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