Week 2 of practice of Buffalo Bills training camp wrapped up Saturday and once again, there are injury updates to address. Fortunately, there continues to be no major injuries, but risk for injury is still high as they continue to acclimate to live football. Check out the updates below.
Jon Feliciano (right shoulder)
According to reports by WROC’s Thad Brown, Feliciano got twisted up in a team drill on Monday, tweaking his shoulder, later clarified to be a right shoulder injury by WGR’s Sal Cappacio.
He missed only one day of practice before returning which indicates that this is likely not a worrisome issue. It is important to note that the right shoulder injury is the same side he tore his pectoral muscle last year, but it is an observation and not implying that either are related. I doubt there will be anything more to come of this, but every injury is worth noting.
Forrest Lamp (calf)
Lamp appeared to have suffered his calf injury, likely a strain, at the practice on Saturday that was open to the public. There did not appear to be any mention of his injury during practice and only became known when he did not participate in practice Monday.
Lamp doesn’t have a history of soft tissue injuries and he is far enough removed from both his ACL tear and fibula fractures. The calf injury fits in line with the acclimation injuries we see early in camp and hopefully is not something that keeps him out long. While it’s possible that Lamp is out for at least a week or two, he cannot afford to miss much more than that as he fights for a roster spot.
Unless there is more information on the severity, I would expect Lamp to return sometime later this week to the sidelines for individual drills.
Marquel Harrell (foot)
Virtually nothing is known about Harrell’s injury other than it is a foot designation. He doesn’t have much of an injury history, hopefully this injury was the result of getting his foot stepped on during live action.
Harrell has been shown to have the eye of Brandon Beane as he was in camp last year and signed to the practice squad late last year. He has a great shot to find the practice squad again this year, but any injury setbacks could hurt his chances.
Christian Wade (shoulder)
Wade injured his shoulder on August 5th and has been out of practice since then with no additional details. While Wade continues to be a long shot to make the roster, having any type of injury doesn’t help his cause in missing valuable reps.
Emmanuel Sanders (foot)
This injury requires more information to determine the injury and how long Sanders will be out. According to reports, he twisted his ankle during reps on August 4th and returned, but missed practice the following day.
He did return the next day to do individual drills off to the side. The fact that he came out to do individual drills and not continued to sit on the sidelines is a good thing, suggesting the twisting motion wasn’t that of a significant sprain or a midfoot injury, but more information is required to truly see when he will return.
He was observed on the sidelines during the open practice Saturday not practicing, but appeared in good spirits. I expect that when he does return, he will be 100 percent and not try to battle through anything that could linger.
Jacob Hollister (back)
Hollister returned back to practice in pads August 5th, though only practicing off to the side initially.
He was able to return for Saturday’s practice after a week off and was able to participate without restriction. Based on the time missed, it appears this may have been a minor acclimation injury.
Vernon Butler (head)
Jon Scott from Spectrum News reported that Vernon Butler was being evaluated for a head injury during Saturday’s scrimmage. Details of the head injury are not available, but it’s important to note that this comes despite all offensive and defensive lineman wearing Guardian Caps, designed to limit the repetitive subconcussive hits each lineman take every play.
Butler will have to either pass the initial testing or if he doesn’t, complete the 5 stage concussion protocol that every player has to go through following a head injury. We won’t know until Monday whether he is in the protocol.
He doesn’t have any publicly reported concussions that I have found, but it’s not certain this is his first one.
Other observations:
Stefon Diggs (oblique)
Diggs revealed that he suffered his torn oblique during warmups prior to the Week 17 matchup against the Dolphins. Many, including myself, thought he injured the oblique during the game, but it was NFL reporter Michael Giardi that noted he was holding his side during warmups.
He went on further to say that he did not require surgery and rehabbed it in the off-season. It’s possible he could suffer another oblique injury, but I don’t believe his risk is any higher than it was previously.
Jerry Hughes (left calf)
Hughes is still out with a calf injury, appearing to be a left medial gastrocnemius strain based on the placement of the tape in the picture below.
Unfortunately, that is one of the most common areas to suffer a calf strain according to literature. It’s important to note that the left side is the leg he leads with coming off the edge. This means his left leg is the force generator which further explains why he is out and won’t be back until he is 100 percent.
He was observed going through individual drills during Saturday’s practice, but has yet to pass a physical. Based on these updates, I suspect he is still at least a week away, possibly even two, barring setbacks.
Hughes’ roster spot is secure and his absence only allows other young players and roster bubble candidates valuable reps. Once he is cleared, we will see the corresponding roster moves.
As a result of all these injuries, especially on the offensive line, the Bills have signed OL Marquel Harrell, TE Bug Howard, OL Tyler Gauthier, and OL Caleb Benenoch. OG Ike Boettger has since returned from the COVID-19 Reserve list. Injuries during training camp are inevitable but having proper depth for all the drills to avoid further injury is imperative.
The Bills practice this week and then head to Detroit for their first preseason game in two years on Friday evening. I’m curious how the team will divide playing time, especially with one less preseason game. We should get more clarity later this week.
Once again, very few injury concerns following two weeks of training camp. Let’s hope it doesn’t change.
Top Photo Credit: Las Vegas Review Journal
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