After Monday’s press conference revealed that Matt Prater would be week-to-week with a right quadriceps injury, the Buffalo Bills signed K Michael Badgley to the practice squad.
Badgley comes to Buffalo on his latest stop since entering the league in 2018. While Badgley is temporary while Prater recovers, he still has the opportunity to audition for a role with the Bills in 2026 especially with the Tyler Bass surgery earlier this month.
Read below for a full injury history and analysis.
Injury History
2018 Los Angeles Chargers
No publicly reported injuries.
2019 Chargers
Right groin strain, Week 1, missed 8 games.
Badgley suffered a right groin strain on his kicking leg the Friday before Week 1. He was never placed on injured reserve and instead was listed and questionable or doubtful each week and not playing until Week 9.
2020 Chargers
No publicly reported injuries.
2021 Tennessee Titans/Indianapolis Colts
No publicly reported injuries.
2022 Chicago Bears/Detroit Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2023 Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2024 Lions
Hamstring tear, preseason, missed entire season.
While getting ready for practice, Badgley suffered a hamstring tear which was significant enough to require surgery and end his season. It’s not clear whether this was the right or left leg and whether this was a proximal or distal tear. My assumption is that this was a kicking leg, proximal tear which is closer to the buttocks.
2025 Colts
No publicly reported injuries.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
Most kickers don’t have much of an injury history in general unless they’ve been playing for 15-20 years. Badgley is only 30 years old and has been in the NFL for eight years. Groin, hamstring, calf, low back, and other lower extremity injuries are nothing new and force kickers and punters to miss more time than other positions due to the specific demand of kicking.
His groin strain from 2019 was notable in how long he missed, but injured reserve rules have changed significantly for players to return sooner which is why he likely avoided IR to begin with. He has not been on the injury report since then for a groin issue.
His hamstring tear was significant enough to require surgery with this being a rather rare injury to begin with. Details are not available but I assume this was to his right leg and affected the proximal portion which is near the buttocks. There aren’t any details as to how he injured the hamstring other than this during training camp and before practice.
With this being such a rare injury, there are not a lot of research articles available that are easily accessed. There was one article that showed that 9 out of 10 NFL players that suffered this injury were able to return to play but playing for a sustained amount of time varies at 50 percent. Unfortunately, the study did not have any kickers represented. Another case report for a 24 year old professional soccer player indicated early surgical repair and saw the player successfully return along with full strength/endurance recovery.
The fact that Badgley was able to return to play this year with the Indianapolis Colts and then signed by Buffalo indicates that he is healthy enough to play and make a difference. His statistics appear to support the notion that he is healthy and able to hit the consistent ranges that he was hitting prior to the injury.
With only needing Badgley for several games while Prater recovers, there is not any downside. There is a possibility that Badgley does get signed in 2022 and is offered as competition for Tyler Bass. Right now, the Bills need to get Matt Prater healthy in time for the playoffs. I can also see a scenario where Badgley stays on the practice squad in the event Prater aggravates his injury after he returns.
I would like to welcome Michael Badgley to Buffalo and to remain healthy and perform well while he is here.
Top Photo Credit: Zach Bolinger/AP
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