After a close first half, the Buffalo Bills pulled away with a 31-12 victory over the New York Jets to move to 8-1 on the season. The Jets have kept it close with most teams this year but struggle and give away the second half of the game. The Jets weren’t helped by losing WR Omar Cooper Jr. to his third right ankle injury this season and repeated hits to Geno Smith, leading to repeated locker room visits.
At this point, a win is a win, and if the defensive line is putting the pressure on the quarterback that forces teams to use their backup quarterback, mission accomplished. Despite the Jets getting beat up on Sunday, the Bills also suffered several injuries.
Read below for all the injuries coming out of Sunday’s win and potential concerns or timelines.
In-Game Injuries
CB Dee Alford (Concussion Check/Concussion)
Alford briefly had to leave Sunday’s contest with :25 seconds left in the second quarter when he took a hard shot to his facemask and was immediately whisked into the blue medical tent for a concussion check. He was able to return immediately to finish the first half.
Unfortunately, Alford took another hard hit to his head when he almost secured an interception in the end zone with 11:00 left in the third quarter as seen below. It looked as though he had a fencing response as soon as his head hit. He was able to walk back to the locker room with an athletic trainer where he was assessed for another concussion and later ruled out.
This is Alford’s third concussion in his NFL career. He suffered one in Week 5 during the 2024 season and was able to return within a week as the Falcons played on a Thursday that week, having extra time to recover. His second concussion saw him suffer one in Week 10 during the 2025 season. He missed one game and was able to return the following week. The chances for Alford to return by next week are decent, with a 43.9 percent chance according to the Banged Up Bills injury database. Consider that number when you compare the league rate at 33.65 percent. We’ll have to see how he progresses through this week, but I’m looking for a limited practice by Thursday if he has a chance to play Sunday.
LB Greg Rousseau (Undisclosed)
Rousseau was briefly assessed by the training staff on the sidelines late in the second quarter, with his last play being with 30 seconds. His last play saw him pressuring the quarterback before the camera panned away.
This wasn’t an issue that kept Rousseau off the field for long, as he was able to return for the next defensive series.
S Amari Hooker (Undisclosed)
Hooker was briefly assessed late in the third quarter and able to return for the next defensive series. It wasn’t clear what the exact issue was, as we never got an update. It’s possible this was a non-contact soft tissue injury that we couldn’t see on film, or it occurred when he made a tackle, as seen below.
We may get more insight into the injury once the injury report is revealed Wednesday or if All-22 shows us better angles.
LB Dorian Williams (Calf)
Williams was deemed questionable to return with a calf injury in the second half of Sunday’s win. There was no indication that he suffered an injury. We will have to wait until All-22 comes out to get a better look at things to tell us when his last play was and a wider view may show limping off the field.
WR Keon Coleman (Concussion Check)
Coleman took a hard shot out of bounds and was slow to get up after securing a catch with 13:37 left in the fourth quarter. He did not look as though he had the ability to protect himself, and this may have been flagged by the independent spotters for further evaluation.
Fortunately, he was assessed for a concussion and cleared to return.
CB Christian Benford (Groin)
Benford was ruled out with a groin injury in the fourth quarter, with no additional information available to discern what happened. His last play was at 11:50 in the fourth quarter, from what I could find and there is a clip of him running away from the play to keep with his man as TJ Parker sacked Cade Klubnik.
The game broadcast did not appear to catch this injury, and the several plays before this weren’t notable for anything either. We will have to wait for the All-22 to get a better idea of what to expect. According to the Banged Up Bills injury database, there is a 45.7 percent chance that this injury causes Benford to miss the next game. Benford has had two groin injuries, one in the preseason for 2025 that didn’t see him miss any games heading into Week 1. But he did miss one game after suffering the same injury ahead of Week 10 in practice, but returned the following game. We will need more information before we can definitely say how long he will be out.
However, we did see him walking off the field without a noticeable limp, which is a positive sign.
CB Maxwell Hairston (Undisclosed)
Hairston went down with an injury with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter. At the time of the injury, he was in the middle of the field as the camera panned down to the play near the sidelines, preventing us from seeing how he was injured.
He was able to walk off under his own power, but we need a better look at what happened and why his day ended early.
S Cole Bishop (Right Shoulder)
Bishop was seen on the sidelines just after Maxwell Hairston went down with his injury, getting his right arm worked on as seen below.
He exited on the same play that Hairston exited on but was also off-screen, preventing us from seeing everything. However, two plays prior, he did try to tackle a Jets offensive player and landed with his shoulder outstretched and was slow to get up.
Based on how he fell, I’m concerned for a shoulder subluxation, where the shoulder partially dislocates and pops back in. This could cause a labrum tear but sometimes the subluxation is just a shift, and you can avoid damage. He likely suffered the injury, tried to play through it, and realized that it wasn’t right before he got assessed. The video does show the athletic trainer or doctor tugging on his shoulder and what looks like strength testing the area. There’s also the possibility of a rotator cuff injury as well, but I’ve seen more of these with a direct shot to the shoulder or a hit through the elbow. This could happen with the shoulder in the cocked back position, but we need more information as to the exact issue.
LB Terrel Bernard/LB Joe Andreessen (Undisclosed)
Both were headed to the X-ray room following the game, according to reports. I did not see them require any medical attention during the game, which means we may need All-22 or practice reports to identify the specific injuries.
Other Observations
OT Spencer Brown (Right Ankle)
Against all odds, Spencer Brown suited up on Sunday after being designated as doubtful with a right ankle injury. He initially suffered the ankle injury when he either clipped or got stepped on by O’Cyrus Torrence during the second drive of Monday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Coming into the game, the Bills were 0-22 when a player was designated as doubtful dating back to 2016. The league rate is 4.9 percent for the 2026 season and 0.8 percent since 2016. Furthermore, the Banged Up Bills injury database had Brown at a 0.7 percent chance to play Sunday. Brown certainly overcame a lot of historical precedent to play on Sunday.
Dating back to 2009, when Pro-Football-Reference.com has injury records, the Bills were 6 of 47 playing doubtful players, a 12.7 percent success rate. The Bills are now 7/48 after Brown suited up and started. Data can certainly support decisions, but there are things like this that data can’t exactly account for. It said there was a small shot, and Brown took advantage of that.
CB Jordan Hancock (Hamstring)
Hancock was activated from injured reserve after returning to practice two weeks ago as he worked back from his hamstring injury suffered in practice prior to Week 3.
Final Thoughts
It was another solid win where the Bills pulled away for the comfortable win, but man, there were a lot of injuries. It doesn’t help that they have the Dolphins and then a quick turnaround for the Chiefs next week, but that’s how the schedule rolls.
The Bills would benefit from resting everyone they can next week, but with it being a divisional game, they can’t phone it in in case the Dolphins show up. We’ll see how this injury report looks this week, but I expect most of the names and a few other surprises on the report as they get ready for next week. Make sure to check back on Monday for All-22 updates and after the press conference from Joe Brady.
Top Photo Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Discover more from Banged Up Bills
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
