A common thought of the 2024 Buffalo Bills preseason was that the number of injuries had increased from previous seasons. More and more players were off to the side with training staff every week. This led to a numbers crunch to make sure there were enough players to practice and participate in all the various drills throughout camp.
But was the perception reality? Were there more injuries than in previous preseasons? After posing a question to both Sal Capaccio and Matt Bove on It’s Always Gameday in Buffalo about the perception of injuries this preseason, Sal posed his question as to whether the data existed to show that injuries were up compared to previous seasons. Here at Banged Up Bills, meticulous reporting and attention to detail allow the data to exist to tabulate the data.
Read below for an in-depth analysis of the preseason injuries year by year and takeaways from the data to determine if 2024 was indeed a year of more injuries. Or is it that the fan base is more acutely aware of the injuries and concerned?
Parameters
- All data was taken from media reports during the preseason from 2018-2024. This timeframe is done for two reasons. 2018 is when Nate Breske was hired as the new head Athletic Trainer and 2018 dates back to when Banged Up Bills had consistently tracked preseason participation.
- Each player was considered one instance in the data sets even if they had multiple injuries during the preseason. The objective was to determine how many players were affected by injury, not necessarily how many injuries total.
- Every player reported was included whether they were out for a vet rest, general soreness, or an actual injury. Timelines for missed time are not considered because injury settlements are provided in different cases and timing of injury, preventing an accurate assessment of how long an injury takes to recover from in the preseason.
- The objective is to determine if the number of players injured during the preseason increased compared to prior seasons and also look at certain injury metrics including soft tissue/type, concussions, whether the injury occurred in practice or preseason game, and if the player was new to the team that season.
Preseason Yearly Injuries
2018
25 players
6 soft tissue (24%)
2 hamstrings
0 calf
4 groin
19 sprains/other (76%)
0 concussions
14 game injuries (56%)
14 new players (56%)
2019
35 players
12 soft tissue (35%)
3 hamstring
0 calf
4 groin
22 sprains/other (64%)
3 concussion
9 game injuries (26%)
15 new players (41%)
2020
25 {27}players
4 soft tissue (16%)
2 hamstring
0 calf
0 groin
21 sprains/other (84%)
1 concussion
0 game injuries (no games)
9 new players (36%)
{Illness}
2021
36 {43} players
5 soft-tissue (14%)
2 hamstring
3 calf
0 groin
25 sprains/other (69%)
2 concussion
14 game injuries (39%)
9 (13) new players (25%)
6 COVID
{Illness/COVID}
2022
33 players
5 soft tissue (15%)
3 hamstring
2 calf
0 groin
28 sprains/other (85%)
1 concussion
11 game injuries (33%)
12 new players (36%)
2023
34 players
12 soft tissue (35%)
6 hamstring
3 calf
5 groin
22 sprains/other (65%)
2 concussions
7 game injuries (21%)
11 new players (32%)
2024
47 players
16 soft tissue (34%)
6 hamstring
4 calf
4 groin
31 sprains/other (66%)
2 concussions
9 game injuries (19%)
23 new players (49%)
2018-2024 Averages
33.57 players
8.57 soft tissue injuries
3.42 hamstring strains
1.71 calf strains
2.42 groin strains
24 sprains/other
1.57 concussions
10.6 game injuries (6 seasons)
13.28 new players
Takeaways
The 2024 season saw a 24 percent increase in reported injuries over the next highest season (2021) excluding COVID related illness. Compared to averages, 2024 was a 29 percent increase in injury reporting. The last two preseasons have had the most injuries reported when compared to previous years.
- The 2023 and 2024 preseasons saw a significant increase in hamstring injuries with 6 each compared to the 2.5 on average seen from 2018-2022 and 3.42 overall.
- Calf injuries were reported consistently between two and four instances between 2021-2024, prior, the team did not have any reported.
- Groin injuries stayed pretty consistent year to year with the exception of 2021 and 2022 where none were reported.
- Concussions stayed fairly consistent between one and two concussions reported each year with the exception of zero in 2018 and three reported in 2019.
- Most of the injuries reported each preseason were due to practice every day versus playing in games. 2018 saw 56 percent of injuries reported in preseason games but otherwise stayed closer to one-third or one-fourth of injuries due to games.
- Close to two-thirds of injuries every year were sprains or other injuries which would be more in line with physical contact.
- The numbers of new players suffering injuries fluctuated wildly throughout the seven-year sample size. 2018 saw 56 percent of new players deal with some type of injury with every year going down and staying roughly at the one-third mark. It did spike back up to 49 percent this year. Both of those years saw a significant turnover on the roster. Whether this was due to the training staff adjusting to treating new players or the new players adjusting to the Bills program isn’t clear.
Limitations of the study
- The Bills do generally provide a body part as to why a player is out for that practice or game. There are times when it is described as general soreness with no additional information. The lack of specificity does affect accuracy when looking at injury rates.
- There are injuries that are not publicly released or players do not miss time which affect the true number of each injury.
- Season-ending injuries were excluded as there have been various players placed on injured reserve that did not have a true season-ending injury. Rather, they were placed on IR as a redshirt year such as Justin Shorter in 2023 due to a hamstring injury. ACL, Achilles, labrum and other injuries were documented but due to the lack of specifics or low incidence, they were not included.
- For example, Zach Davidson suffered a torn ACL during OTA’s and missed the entire season but this wasn’t revealed until a year later. Nyhiem Hines suffered an ACL tear in the offseason not due to football activities. Furthermore, only P Cory Carter and OT Tommy Doyle suffered two ACL tears during the preseason.
- Accuracy of reporting may have affected numbers if a player was inadvertently missed during research or not included in weekly articles.
Conclusion
The Buffalo Bills did indeed see a notable increase in injuries during the 2024 season compared to previous years and averages. Whether this was unfortunate luck or more of a proactive approach given the injuries over 2022 and 2023 regular season is unknown to everyone other than the Bills training staff.
The Bills medical and training staff still manage to get players ready each and every week that play through injuries that would sideline other people for weeks and months. Injuries are an unfortunate part of football and ultimately have a drastic effect on how a season plays out.
If there are any observations or feedback that warrants further analysis, please reach out at @BangedUpBills on X or Instagram or kyletrimble88@gmail.com.
Top Photo Credit: Buffalo Bills
