Football is officially back! The Buffalo Bills take on the Houston Texans in Week 1 down in Houston. After months of waiting, new Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady will finally take command of the team in a meaningful game to start the newest era. There are few places tougher to start your head coaching career than in Houston where the Bills have not won a game there since 2006 according to FootballDB.com.
The Bills have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Josh Allen with a retooled defense while the Texans have All Pro’s at every level of their defense and key pieces on offense that should make this a close matchup. Out of the last four matchups, each score has been decided by four points or less, all Texans wins, with the exception of the Bills 40-0 victory in 2021.
Both teams come into the matchup relatively healthy with the Bills not losing anyone significant during the preseason but the Texans lost WR Jayden Higgins to an ACL tear in late August.
Read below for a full analysis of each injury report along with projected inactives and final thoughts.
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BUFFALO BILLS INJURY REPORT
QUESTIONABLE
CB Jordan Hancock (Right Quad)
Hancock had missed practice since suffering a quad injury either potentially in the win over the Pittsburgh Steelers or during a closed practice last week. He sat out during the two open practices on September 1 and 2 and missed practice on September 9 before returning as a limited participant on Thursday.
In the video below, Hancock looks to be moving pretty well despite wearing a sleeve or tape on his right quad.
While Hancock is questionable, he did get a limited practice in on Friday which bodes well for his chances to play on Sunday. According to my Spartera injury database, Bills players with a DNP, limited, full play at 100 percent of the time. Trying to narrow down position or injury results in rather statistically insignificant results but Hancock has a legitimate shot at playing Sunday. Considering Bills players miss .8 games with a quad injury and this is his second week managing the injury, I like his chances to suit up on Sunday.
RB Ty Johnson (Right Hamstring)
Johnson has yet to return to practice other than doing some work off to the side last week as he continues to rehab from his right hamstring strain suffered on August 8. This injury has lingered much longer than I had expected but the fact that the team did not place him on injured reserve to start the season indicates that they are expecting him back sooner than later.
The fact that he didn’t practice all week until Friday is promising to play Sunday. According to my Spartera injury database, Bills players who log a DNP, DNP, Limited play at 60.9 percent of the time. Johnson also stated that he’s been feeling good and that Brady has noted that he doesn’t need a lot of practice to be ready.
If this was a fresh hamstring strain, he wouldn’t play. But he’s had over a month to get right and he’s also been working to get back up to full speed over that time. I like his chances to play Sunday but if he doesn’t go, the team does have a short week next week and may be preparing him to be ready for Week 2 and beyond.
DT TJ Sanders (Right Knee)
Sanders appeared to suffer a knee injury on Wednesday as he was listed as limited but downgraded to DNP on Thursday and Friday. He did appear to practice on Wednesday as evident by several pictures from Wednesday as he wore a sleeve on the right leg.
We don’t know the extent of the injury but head coach Joe Brady did reveal that he tweaked the knee on Wednesday. With the sleeve being a clue, this is the same side that he had a knee scope last year that sent him to injured reserve following Week 5. It was reported as a knee scope which sounded like a knee clean out to trim his meniscus or any loose bodies.
Looking at Bills practice injuries who play later that week, 53.4 percent end up suiting up which makes this a near coin flips
He also was wearing a sleeve back in late May and into June potentially indicating this could have been a prior issue he was managing until it possibly flared up this week. He is questionable but considering the recency of the injury along with the fact the Bills have a Thursday game, it may be best to sit him knowing they have both Greg Gaines and DeWayne Carter available.
HOUSTON TEXANS INJURY REPORT
ACTIVE
LB Wade Woodaz (Right Thumb)
Woods has been a full participant all week as he has practiced through a broken thumb that required surgery on August 20. He confirmed that he would wear a club and this is something he’s done before.
This is a great video from Texans beat reporter Aaron Wilson where we see Woodaz not use his right thumb and we will likely see the club on the right side. We will also potentially see him have trouble tackling to his right unless he wraps up cleanly but he will also have difficulty in securing any interceptions. This won’t stop him, but considering he’s a rookie, he may be a player the Bills can exploit.
OT Trent Brown (Wrist)
Brown was a full participant all week as he worked through what was described as an old wrist injury per reports.
Looking back at the injury reports, the only time Brown was on an injury report for a wrist was in 2021 when he was on for both a calf and wrist injury during Week 13 and 15. He was limited all week and questionable heading into each game but ultimately played. Other than those details, we don’t have a lot to go off of regarding his injury.
INJURED RESERVE
DT Kayden McDonald (Ankle)
McDonald appeared to injure his ankle in practice on Wednesday where he was a limited participant. He was downgraded to DNP Thursday and Friday and placed on injured reserve where he will miss the first four games of the season.
Buffalo Bills Projected Inactives
OT Jude Bowry
DE Mike Danna
TE Keleki Latu
S Jalon Kilgore
DT TJ Sanders
WR Skyler Bell
Call Ups: WR Greg Dortch
Houston Texans Projected Inactives
DT Jayden Crumedy
TE Cade Stover
TE Marlin Klein
DE Sebastian Harsh
CB Collin Wright
Final Thoughts
The Bills have a tough matchup going to Houston and then turning around immediately to take on the Detroit Lions on Thursday night as they open Highmark Stadium. I fully expect this to be a close game with whoever can make the fewest mistakes will win the game. The Bills do have the advantage in having more of their roster healthy whereas the Texans already lost Jayden Higgins, JaMarcus Ingram, EJ Speed, Braden Smith to injury this preseason and have yet to return Tank Dell to the field following his horrific knee injury in late 2024.
It’s fun to have football back but this won’t be an easy early schedule by any means. All we can hope is that the Bills can execute their game plan better than their opponents along with staying healthy. I’m expecting a Bills win but it’s going to be within a touchdown. Make sure to check back for the latest injuries and updates following the game.
Top Photo Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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