The Buffalo Bills head out to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in their second game in England on Sunday morning. Coming in with a 3-1 record, the Bills have the chance to take down another AFC playoff participant from last season.
While both teams come in with several injuries, the Bills have three major injuries on defense that will have different effects on the team. The potential return of Von Miller coming off his ACL tear and the loss of Tre’Davious White for the season and Greg Rousseau out for this game and potentially more.
Read about the injuries for each team, projected inactives, Banged Up Bills Best Bet, and final thoughts below.
Buffalo Bills Injury Report
OUT
DE Greg Rousseau (Right Foot)
Rousseau missed practice all week with a right foot injury sustained midway through the second quarter as shown above. He has been ruled out and the team has been mum on what his exact status is. Considering Ed Oliver fell onto his foot, that is a lot of weight and force that hit the top of his foot with very little natural padding.
There are a variety of injuries to the area to consider including a contusion, a midfoot sprain, Lisfranc sprain, or even a fracture. Despite the little information available, we can deduce that there are several injuries that it cannot be. If it was a Lisfranc fracture/dislocation, the team would have been more forthcoming with that information as he would have undergone surgery by this point. He also would not have been able to finish the game.
A Jones fracture could be in play but the mechanism of injury is more when the foot plantarflexes and the hindfoot turns inward, similar to rolling your ankle. Even if this was a Jones fracture, it’s likely they would want to do surgery to stabilize the area. If this was another metatarsal fracture that became displaced, surgery would also be indicated to repair the area and lead to a longer timeframe missed.
What we are left to consider is a contusion/bone bruise, midfoot sprain or Lisfranc sprain, or a non-displaced fracture to the cuboids or three cuneiform bones. A contusion would be the ideal solution as it would only be painful and could have a shorter timeframe to miss time. A bone bruise would require a longer timeframe but with some initial rest, he could play through the injury.
A Lisfranc sprain would be a sprain to the Lisfranc ligament that runs from the medial cuneiform to the base of the second metatarsal. There are typically more rotational forces in play with Lisfranc sprains, but it’s possible that happened, just couldn’t see it on film. If this is a stable Grade 1 or Grade 2 Lisfranc sprain, Grade 1 misses on average one week whereas Grade 2 misses on average 5 weeks.
Midfoot sprains in general have somewhat similar timelines with Grade 1 missing 3 days and Grade 2 missing 36 days. All Lisfranc sprains are midfoot sprains but not every midfoot sprain is a Lisfranc sprain. These timelines may indicate when he can return, but we’re not sure that this is even the injury.
Finally, the possibility of a fracture in the cuneiforms or cuboid is a possibility. The key point here would be that it would have to be non-displaced. There is not any real literature on cuneiform fractures or how to even injure the area, but it’s right in the middle of the foot. Cuboid is possible as the mechanism of injury is compression or crush of the lateral aspect of the foot, known as a nutcracker fracture. Oliver did hit on the top of the foot, so this is possible. However, cuboid injuries are also seen with Lisfranc and midfoot sprains, once again lumping that back in with what was mentioned above.
If this was a cuboid, there is some precedent as San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle suffered the same injury in 2020. He missed a total of five games late in the season as he rehabbed. He was not placed on injured reserve.
Unless the team tells us exactly what the injury is, we are left guessing. This is not a season-ending injury, but he is out this game. Do not be alarmed if he misses next week and potentially more with even a short-term IR stay needed.
CB Tre’Davious White (Right Achilles)
White has been on the injury report all week as required as he has not officially been placed on injured reserve. This transaction will take place with a corresponding roster transaction on Saturday afternoon. To read more about his injury, click below.
QUESTIONABLE
DE Shaq Lawson (Toe)
Lawson was a late addition to the injury report Saturday with a toe designation, indicating that he suffered the injury in walk through on Friday.
CB Christian Benford (Right shoulder)
Benford took a hard shot to his shoulder on Sunday courtesy of Raheem Mostert. He left and stayed out for most of the game until he returned after Tre’Davious White was injured.
Looking at the video and pictures, he has kinesiotape all over his right shoulder. It’s fortunate that he did not suffer anything more severe that required a brace, but there is still likely a lot of pain and inflammation in the area.
This may come down to a pain tolerance issue but I would expect Benford to play especially with White being out.
EDGE Von Miller (Right Knee)
Wednesday saw the return of Von Miller to practice as he opened up his 21-day window to practice while on PUP. While he has looked good, there still isn’t a ton of ramp-up time for him to suddenly go play in a live NFL game.
Though questionable, Von indicates that he will play Sunday which is remarkable considering his age and the timeline.
While the team denied this, Greg Rousseau’s injury may have forced the team to accelerate his return slightly.
Putting Miller back out there prematurely could lead to further soft-tissue injuries and lessen his impact later in the season. His body needs to acclimate to going at full speed and doing everything he asks of it without hesitation. He needs that against other humans which he hasn’t had much of lately. This may be a calculated risk to slowly expose him to live contact versus letting him sit on PUP for another week. Looks like he’s going to play.
ACTIVE
RB Damien Harris (Neck)
Harris was limited on Wednesday with a neck designation but was able to practice in full on Thursday and Friday, suggesting this may have been more soreness than anything else. He did have a neck injury in 2021 in Week 11 that he did not miss time for but that was coming off a concussion two weeks prior.
TE Dawson Knox (Quad)
Knox was limited Wednesday and Thursday with a quad designation but managed to play in 50 percent of offensive snaps Sunday. The play below showed the possible instance where he suffered a quad injury, whether this is a contusion or strain is unclear. He has no gameday designation indicating this is a minor issue.
S Jordan Poyer (Right Knee)
Poyer missed last week with a right knee injury that appeared to be a contusion by video, but it’s possible he could have tweaked something that just didn’t respond well later during the week.
He was limited Wednesday before practicing in full on Thursday and Friday indicating he will play on Sunday.
INJURED RESERVE
LB Baylon Spector (Right Hamstring)
Thursday was the first instance where we saw Spector off to the side rehabbing from his right hamstring strain suffered in the final preseason game. You can see how his hamstring and calf are taped up while he works through his rehab drills.
While this is promising, there is no guarantee when he returns because the Bills need a corresponding injury to activate him back to the roster. At this point, he can get fully healthy and come back when the team needs him.
Jacksonville Jaguars Injury Report
OUT
CB Christian Braswell (Hamstring)
Braswell was added to the injury report on Thursday with a hamstring injury and will miss Sunday. This comes after he missed most of training camp due to a hamstring injury.
WR Parker Washington (Knee)
Washington played in one snap and offense and one snap on special teams last week in his first NFL experience but suffered an injury, knocking him out for Week 5.
LB Devin Lloyd (Right Thumb)
Lloyd did not make the trip to London due to requiring two screws to be placed in right thumb fracture after suffering the injury against the Houston Texans.
LB Dawuane Smoot (Achilles)
Smooth returned to practice this week following his Achilles tear suffered last season around Christmas. Three practices were not enough to ramp up to play and he has another two weeks to prepare his body.
QUESTIONABLE
WR Zay Jones (Right Knee)
Jones has missed the last two games with a right knee injury sustained against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2. In the short clip, he is not running full speed but appears to be trending towards playing Sunday. It’s possible he suffered a minor MCL sprain but appears on track to play Sunday.
S Antonio Johnson (Hamstring)
Johnson suffered a hamstring strain prior to Week 1 and has missed the first four games. Fortunately, the coaching staff stated that he was trending towards playing in his first NFL action this season.
WR Jamal Agnew (Quad)
Agnew is officially questionable after missing last week due to a quad injury. He was limited all week but may play if his practices were productive enough this week.
DL Folorunso Fatukasi (Shoulder)
Fatukasi has been battling through a shoulder injury since suffering the injury in Week 2. While he was active in Week 3, he did not record any stats, but appeared in 47 percent of defensive snaps. He has stayed steady with his snap counts and should play Sunday.
ACTIVE
LB Josh Allen (Shoulder)
Allen appeared on the injury report with a shoulder designation for the third consecutive week but has not missed any time. He appeared to suffer the injury in Week 2 but has returned to his normal snap counts despite the injury.
Buffalo Bills Projected Inactives
S Damar Hamlin
OL Germain Ifedi
OT Alec Anderson
CB Ja’Marcus Ingram*
DT Poona Ford
DE Greg Rousseau*
Activate Von Miller, call up CB JaMarcus Ingram, IR Tre’Davious White/Greg Rousseau
Update
Jacksonville Jaguars Projected Inactives
LB Devin Lloyd
WR Parker Washington
CB Christian Braswell
WR Elijah Cooks
RB JaMycal Hasty
Banged Up Bills Best Bet
Last week, I tried to get cute with the bet and have the Dolphins cover which meant keeping it close or winning. But they sometimes picking the Moneyline is the sure bet when you don’t want to overthink things.
While the Bills may be jet lagged, the Jaguars are homesick. The Bills still appear to be the better team but the game could be close. I’m placing one unit on the Bills Moneyline (-250) at Caesars.
Record: 3-1, +1.73
Final Observations
The Bills appear to be the better team but the long distance travel may be the great equalizer. Bills Mafia will be well represented overseas and the Bills appear to be the more talented team. Plenty of things can happen, the Jaguars still have a talented quarterback and other weapons to keep the Bills in check. Hopefully the Bills can stay focused and secure their first win in London.
Top Photo Credit: Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images
