The Buffalo Bills wrapped up practice this week prior to their third preseason game on Thursday. Unfortunately, there were several names added to the injury list as they try to ensure the long term health of players as they get closer to Week 1.
We will see several starters play on Thursday as they get their final reps in and as many fight for their roster lives. Below are all the latest injuries and updates as the team heads into roster cuts.
New Injuries
LB Joe Andreessen (Undisclosed)
Andreessen missed practice on August 25 with an undisclosed injury. He has been wearing a sleeve on his right leg throughout camp after dealing with a quad strain back in mid-May during OTAs.
WR Mecole Hardman (Undisclosed)
Hardman missed practice on August 25 for an undisclosed reason. We did not receive any other information as to the extent of his absence.
S Geno Stone (Undisclosed)
On August 24, defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard noted in a pre-practice press conference that Stone has been dealing with several injuries throughout camp.
He has not appeared to miss any reps from what I have seen nor has he been wearing any tape, sleeves, or braces on any areas.
WR Joshua Palmer (Right Wrist)
Palmer briefly required medical attention after landing hard on his right wrist/hand area after getting his feet tangled up with Max Hairston.
Fortunately, he was checked out by training staff before returning to practice and catching a touchdown. During Tuesday’s practice, he was wearing tape on his wrist that did not appear supportive which suggests he may have gotten turf burn since they practiced in the field house on Monday.
After last season’s injuries, anytime his name and the word injury is put together, we tend to hold our breath. Thankfully, this had a good outcome.
LB Terrel Bernard (Undisclosed)
Bernard missed practice on August 24 and 25 as he dealt with a minor injury. He has a long, long injury history and if he’s feeling anything, it’s best to get him fully healthy now. He had stated in the offseason how he needs to be more vocal about how he feels instead of pushing through and playing.
C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (Undisclosed)
SVPG missed practice on August 24th and 25th with an undisclosed injury. He had been wearing a sleeve on his right leg throughout portions of the offseason and early in training camp. This is also the same side he suffered his calf strain that put him on PUP to begin the season last year, but it’s not known if this is related.
DE Javon Solomon (Right Leg)
Solomon missed practice on August 24 and according to Nick Sabato of the Niagara Gazette, he was wearing a sleeve on his right leg. He played in 23 defensive snaps and 3 more on special teams and didn’t require any attention from training staff during the game to our knowledge.
He participated in pre-practice warmup and then went into the weight room with training staff.
Injury Updates
OL Jude Bowry (Left Leg)
Bowry was spotted in a left walking boot on August 24 after exiting Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
Looking at the video, it’s possible that he suffered a calf strain while trying to block on his final rep as seen below.
The other possibility was that he was kicked in his left ankle/foot area earlier in the game but managed to stay in.
Objectively, he did not have a good game on Saturday and his performance in the first preseason game left much to be desired. Considering he is a higher draft pick and would need development, the team could elect to place him on injured reserve to allow him to heal but also as a way to stash him. They could elect to put him on IR with one of the two injured reserve designations which would allow him to return if needed but prevent exposing someone else to waivers during roster cuts. This would count against the eight return designations whether he returns or not but this also gives them the flexibility to activate him later if needed.
WR Dante Pettis (Undisclosed)
Pettis missed the Thursday joint practice with the Cleveland Browns and the preseason game after he came up limping during the open practice on August 18. According to the beat reporters, he was able to return to practice on August 24.
DT Ed Oliver (Undisclosed)
Oliver has missed practice dating back to August 18 as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury. Looking at the video, he doesn’t have any sleeves, tape, bracing on the area which has me thinking upper body or a hip/groin issue. This is more of a guess based on excluding other possibilities including a concussion.
WR Skyler Bell (Groin)
Bell was able to return to practice after missing two weeks due to a groin injury suffered during the Return of the Blue and Red Scrimmage on August 8. Head coach Joe Brady had stated that Bell could have played in the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers if it had been a regular season game, but they elected to hold him out.
The fact that he missed two weeks as he recovered isn’t really a surprise. During the regular season over the last 10 years, a Bills WR spends 1.5 weeks on the injury report with a groin designation according to the Spartera Banged Up Bills marketplace. Furthermore, a Bills WR would miss .5 games due to the injury further confirming the comments Joe Brady made about playing had it been a regular season game.
S Jalon Kilgore (Right Leg)
Kilgore was able to return to practice on August 24 after missing practice and the preseason game last week dealing with a right leg injury. It’s still not clear when he suffered the injury but this may have been precautionary as he only missed several days.
S CJ Gardner-Johnson (Right Leg)
CJGJ continues to sit out of practice as he works through his right leg injury suffered on August 10. He originally suffered the right lower calf injury on August 1 and returned to practice after missing just two practices.
He may have injured another structure in his leg after he dove for a ball on August 10 and has since been wearing a full sleeve on his leg. Hindsight says he should have sat out longer from the original injury, but the Bills also have a process to return players back to the field safely.
Hopefully we see him return to practice after roster cut downs.
WR Khalil Shakir (Right Leg)
Shakir continued to miss practice dating back to August 18 with a right leg injury according to the sleeve on his leg. It’s not clear what he is dealing with but this is the same side he had offseason ankle surgery. The sleeve is covering his calf and upper thigh/knee area suggesting that this is not a recurrence of the ankle issues.
WR Keon Coleman (Right Foot/Toe)
Coleman continues to miss practice as he battles with a right foot/toe injury originally sustained during the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on August 15.
The team has not provided any additional information at this time as to a timeline or specifics of the injury but the Bills have managed these injuries pretty well. When we found out about the injury location, the Spartera Banged Up Bills products stated that Bills WR’s who suffer either injury spend roughly two weeks on the injury report. I had hoped that he would return after roster cut downs but considering the preseason, they may extend that timeline out longer to make sure this injury does not linger.
He was spotted working out and running later in practice with the training staff indicating that he is on his way to returning to practice.
C Connor McGovern (Right Hamstring)
McGovern continues to work back from his right hamstring originally suffered on August 8. He has been slowly ramping up as he participated in rehab activities before the Cleveland Browns preseason game.
He had a ton of tape on the back of his leg but appeared to be moving well as he worked out with the S&C staff. He continues to reiterate that he hopes to be ready for Week 1.
RB Ty Johnson (Right Hamstring)
Johnson has begun to make appearances with the team after he suffered what appeared to be a right hamstring strain during the August 8 scrimmage in the stadium. He is sporting a black sleeve on his right leg but has not been seen working out since then.
Fortunately, he has been able to resume running which is a big step in the right direction. We’ll see when he starts to return but the medical team is taking this one slow to ensure he doesn’t have a recurrence later this season.
Final Thoughts
The injury numbers are creeping up but it’s far lower than last year and closer to historical averages since 2018. We will get the final numbers after roster cut downs but the team has only had one player placed on injured reserve and many of the players that have been out are either precautionary or they are giving them the appropriate time to get fully healthy.
Let’s hope that the Bills get through this preseason game intact as they finalize roster cut downs, building the practice squad, and getting ready for Week 1.
Top Photo Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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