Buffalo Rumblings
Codrington’s back; Davis is in concussion protocol
The Buffalo Bills held a walkthrough practice on Wednesday as they prepare to host the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs this Sunday. Before practice, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott met with members of the media and the first order of business was an injury update.
McDermott started out by announcing that running back Ray Davis was still in concussion protocol and that offensive lineman Alec Anderson would be limited in Wednesday’s walkthrough as he continues to deal with a calf injury. Both Davis and Anderson suffered their injuries in Buffalo’s 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in last weekend’s wild card game.
Davis was the target of a Josh Allen pass that led the running back a little too far. The result, besides an incompletion, was a collision with Denver safety Brandon Jones. While Jones was penalized for targeting, it was more an accident of circumstance rather than anything malicious on Jones’ part. Regardless of the how and why, Davis lay motionless on the ground before trainers assisted the rookie running back to his feet and into the locker room.
For Davis to return to play this week, he would have to work his way through all five steps of the NFL’s concussion protocol policy. We wouldn’t see Davis listed as anything but limited on the team’s daily injury reports until he reaches Step 4.
One interesting thing to keep in mind is that the league will allow teams to supplement simulated activity at step 5 should there be no more opportunities for a full contact practice on the team’s pre-game schedule. This would potentially allow Davis to reach Step 4 on Friday and still be able to clear Step 5 on Saturday in order to be eligible for play Sunday. However, it is common for concussion injuries to keep most players out of action the following week. The Bills use a three-person-committee at running back, and while James Cook gets the heaviest load of the work, Ty Johnson shared the same number of snaps (34) as the Bills leading rusher last week. Johnson’s increase in snaps could be attributed to Davis leaving the game early. Buffalo has one running back on their practice squad – Frank Gore, Jr. - and he will likely get the activation on Saturday unless Davis has managed to get the all-clear by Friday afternoon.
As for Anderson, the Bills announced he was questionable to return to the game in the third quarter. However, the Bills’ “extra” lineman who spent the majority of his 22 offensive snaps reporting to the referee as an eligible receiver did return to play. The Bills have used the 6 offensive linemen strategy close to 27 percent of the time this season, so having...
