The Buffalo Bills made a curious decision on Tuesday, signing P Cameron Johnston to the active roster and cutting P Brad Robbins after just one game. Robbins “won” the punting job coming into camp after P Jake Camarda was released at the beginning of camp.
The Bills must not have had much confidence in Robbins once they saw him perform in a real game. Either way, the Bills wanted to shore up the special teams unit as they signed K Matt Prater to the active roster as well.
Johnston comes to Buffalo after stops in Philadelphia, Houston, and Pittsburgh before being cut in August.
Read further for a full injury history and analysis.
Injury History
2018 Philadelphia Eagles
No publicly reported injuries.
2019 Eagles
No publicly reported injuries.
2020 Eagles
Concussion, Week 15, missed 0 games.
Johnston suffered a concussion sometime in the second half against the Arizona Cardinals and was ruled out. As a result, K Jake Elliott was forced to punt and TE Zach Ertz assumed the holding duties. Johnston was able to pass through the protocol and play the following week.
2021 Houston Texans
No publicly reported injuries.
2022 Texans
No publicly reported injuries.
2023 Texans
Calf strain, preseason, placed on IR, missed 4 games.
Johnston suffered a calf strain in the preseason and was expected to keep him out one-to-two weeks. It’s not clear which side was injured but my bet is the left leg. However, due to the uncertainty of punting and holding, the Texans placed him on injured reserve, missing the first four games until he was fully ready.
2024 Pittsburgh Steelers
Right ACL tear, Week 1, missed 17 games.
Johnston suffered a right knee injury that resulted in an ACL tear when a Atlanta Falcons special team player fell into his right leg which is his punting leg. This occurred during the season opener; it required the cart to exit the field. As a result, he missed the remainder of the season and playoffs
2025 Steelers/Buffalo Bills
No publicly reported injuries.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
As with most special teams players, they do not suffer many injuries and play for a long time. Looking at Johnston’s history, the concussion is an outlier but not a lingering concern. The calf strain comes with the mechanics of punting but the ACL tear is the most notable.
However, an ACL tear is rather insignificant for a punter in general and overall rare. In a study looking at ACL tears from 2010-2013, only two punters suffered an ACL tear which made them statistically insignificant in looking at overall rates. Johnston’s injury was also the result of contact which makes up under 30 percent of all ACL tears. It’s important to note that this was his punting leg which is a lesser concern than if this was his plant leg.
While he does need proper quadriceps strength and the ability to have a fully straight knee to punt the ball, the plant leg is the more important leg during punting. The punter needs to step and plant which places a deceleration force through the knee. The deceleration force planting the leg creates a ground reaction force to create power and momentum moving forward and allows the punter to kick the ball higher and further down the field. There is also a rotational component as the swing leg carries momentum forward at the end.
What this comes down to is the plant leg needs to be able to withstand greater forces to effectively plant versus the kicking leg. Since this was his right leg there were less barriers to return to form. He was able to return to practice by OTA’s in May with full clearance. However, Johnston simply wasn’t good enough to beat out Corliss Waitman.
Final Thoughts
Johnston’s injury history is notable but not of concern as he begins his next chapter with the Buffalo Bills. It’s also promising that he doesn’t have any history of back, hip, hamstring, or groin injuries that have cost him missed time. I have really no concern for him to re-tear his ACL or tear the opposite side unless he has another collision or decides to tackle in the open field and reacts poorly.
It’s important that he can help flip the field on fourth down and effectively hold during field goals. The Bills are confident in both abilities that they moved on from Robbins.
I would like to welcome Cameron Johnston to Buffalo and to remain healthy this season.
Top Photo Credit: Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
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