There are the Buffalo Bills we know and love! As Harry Dunne would say, Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself! Similar to the quote, we all thought the Bills couldn’t get any worse, they go and turn in Sunday’s performance against the Los Angeles Chargers with a loss of 54-24. Where is the team that started 5-2? Now they are 5-5, losing ground in the playoff race, losing respect, and embarrassing themselves. To add to it, several key players went out with injury and made for an incredibly long day.
First man up, WR Kelvin Benjamin left early in the 1st quarter with a knee injury after a 20 yard catch. Upon replay, Benjamin got hit at the knee with the knee hyperextending while his foot was planted, similar to the Zay Jones injury. Benjamin had to be assisted off the field to the medical tent. After examination, he had difficulty placing weight through his leg and had to be carted off to be done for the day. As there are reports that he escaped serious injury, this does not mean he will play immediately next week. He may have hyperextended his knee as the video shows and may have sustained a bone bruise.
As outlined in my contusion article, there are several types of bone bruises. Bone bruises are actually a type of fracture that is less severe than a true bone fracture that we all think of. Keeping it brief, there are 3 types of bone bruises: Sub-periosteal hematoma, inter-osseous bruising, and sub-chondral lesion.
Sub-periosteal hematoma occurs when a direct high force trauma occurs and blood forms under the periosteum, which is a membrane that covers the outside of the bone. Inter-osseous bruising occurs when the bone marrow of the bone becomes damaged, specifically the blood supply. This occurs as the result of a repetitive high compressive forces on the bone, such as excessive running or jumping. These are seen more common in the knees and ankles.
Sub-chondral lesions occur when the cartilage layer of the bone becomes damaged. This area is found at the end of the bone and is the part that articulates with another bone. An extreme crushing force or rotational/shearing force may also cause this, commonly seen in injuries such as ACL tears. ACL tears typically not isolated, but MCL damage, meniscus damage, and even a sub-chondral lesion due to the forces that occur on the joint during the injury also occur.
At this point, if there is a bone bruise, further imaging is required which has already involved X-ray to rule out fracture and MRI. Imaging supported today that there was no ligament damage which would most likely end his season. If I had to speculate the type, I would suspect sub-periosteal hematoma based on the mechanism of injury and inability to play through it.
Bone bruises are tricky because depending on extent of injury, he could be out for 2-3 weeks or be out for the year in the case of Sam Bradford of the Vikings. I could easily see Benjamin out for at least the next game if not the next two with the possibility to come back against the Colts if the diagnosis is correct.
Next up is S Micah Hyde who also sustained a knee injury early in the 3rd quarter. Hyde was injured while trying to make a tackle and injured his knee. Replays initially indicate that he sustained a direct helmet to helmet hit but upon further review, he injured his knee as he was falling to the field. As there is no video replay of the incident, I can not speculate on what occurred. Sean McDermott did state that Hyde would be alright and did not elaborate. Hyde did suffer a knee injury at the beginning of October and unknown whether it is related.
Finally WR Deonte Thompson injured his ankle trying to catch a ball towards the sidelines at the end of the 3rd quarter. It appeared that he had his ankle rolled up on. He was able to exit under his own power but was clearly not moving well after the injury. McDermott did not mention him during today’s press conference; I do expect him to show up on the injury report but observing how his ankle was rolled on, it should not be something which should affect him playing next week.
Prior to the game, T Cordy Glenn, WR Jordan Matthews, and FB Mike Tolbert were all ruled out which severely limited the depth available today. Considering how the offensive line played, the injuries sustained today, this whole team fell apart today. I have mentioned in previous articles that depth will be key down the stretch, but considering the starters can’t even play up to snuff, depth becomes irrelevant. The Bills are horrendous these past few weeks and something has to change.
Continue to check back regularly for articles updating the injuries as more information is released. Follow me at @kyletrimble88 on Twitter for the latest up to date information. As always, thank you for reading and GO BILLS!
