That game was about as appealing as a poop flavored lollipop. The Buffalo Bills inexplicably lost to the Miami Dolphins 30-13 to drop to 6-3 on the season. Nothing was clicking and when the Bills did get an opportunity to get back into the game, mistakes and poor play kept them playing from behind.
In addition to the loss, the Bills suffered several injuries that will have a notable effect on both sides of the ball for the foreseeable future. Read below for all the injuries coming out of Sunday’s loss.
In-Game Injuries
Make sure to check back for the latest injury updates following Monday’s press conference.
DE Landon Jackson (Right Knee)
Jackson went down with 11:31 left in the first quarter on a routine run play to the right side. He got tied up with his assignment and had fellow teammates Phidarius Mathis and Javon Solomon fall into his right knee.
He was quickly ruled out and having difficulty placing weight on his right leg to get into the medical tent.
During the game, he was seen with a brace on his right knee and on crutches on the sidelines.
After the game, we didn’t get any updates about his status or really mention at all. The Bills have a good idea of what is going on but need imaging to confirm. This may be better viewed on the end zone view of how his knee bent when All-22 comes out Monday, but there are several possibilities regarding his knee injury with an ideal injury of an MCL sprain.
Without more information, we can’t rule out the possibility of an ACL tear, meniscus, or even patellar tendon tear, though the latter doesn’t appear to fit the mechanism.
My initial fear is an ACL tear considering how Mathis and Solomon fell into the knee from the outside and his right foot was planted.
We will get more information regarding his severity once the team gets back and he gets an MRI.
If this does turn out to be an ACL tear, this would be Jackson’s third ACL tear with his first one occurring in high school in 2018 and his second one in 2021 in college at LSU, both to his left knee.
A full injury history can be found below.
CB Tre’Davious White (Left Shoulder)
White briefly left the game with 6:33 minutes left in the first quarter when he landed on his left shoulder during a tackle as seen below.
He was briefly taken off the field and assessed for a shoulder injury before he was cleared to return. Based on how he fell and the designation, it’s possible he suffered a stinger. He has had several stingers during his career and this appeared to be another one. This is something that shouldn’t linger but if he ends up on the injury report due to a neck or shoulder, this could be why.
TE Dalton Kincaid (Right Hamstring)
Kincaid exited with roughly 10 minutes left in the third quarter, grabbing his right hamstring as he ran his route. He appeared to suffer a moderate hamstring strain having to hop off the field for further assessment. He was initially questionable before being downgraded to out.
From what I can find, this is Kincaid’s first hamstring strain of his NFL career. Looking at how the Bills manage hamstring strains, most players miss the following game which means Kincaid would be out for Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s assuming this is a mild hamstring.
There are plenty of instances where players have missed two and three games but have also required injured reserve. Without knowing more information, it wouldn’t surprise me to see that he missed at least two games seeing how he hobbled off on Sunday.
This is another one that requires more information for a timeline to be established.
Final Thoughts
This game was awful all around. How do you beat the Kansas City Chiefs and then turn around and lose to a team that is 2-7. I know this is a divisional game which means weird things like this do happen. But for a team that expects to contend with a deep playoff run, this wasn’t it.
There is also something I wanted to address that didn’t make it into Friday’s article. Sean McDermott was asked about all the practice injuries that are more soft tissue related during the non-contact portion of practice. He mentioned it on WGR Friday morning and then discussed in greater detail during his Friday press conference. You can see his answer linked here starting at the 3:40 mark.
I know looking from the outside, I don’t have the answers as to why the injuries are up. The Bills are up to 10 practice injuries by my count this year. I know the physical therapists, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning staff; their job isn’t easy. We don’t know what changes were made in S&C other than little snippets that were mentioned in the offseason. Maybe there is too much of an emphasis on data and less about how guys feel. Maybe there have been fundamental changes that we don’t know about. We don’t know and if it’s asked, we probably won’t get a straight answer.
I’ll defend the medical staff because I know you don’t get to that level without knowing your shit, excuse my French. These people are hard at work and know there is a problem.
It’s not my place to criticize them. They’re working to fix it.
The Bills have to get back to the drawing board and find a way to prepare for a strong Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 11.
Top Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports
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