Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills have put the finishing touches on their pregame prep for a Week 13 road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Early in the day, we found out that four players wouldn’t suit up on Sunday. It’s next man up for those backing up left tackle Dion Dawkins, right tackle Spencer Brown, linebacker Terrel Bernard, and wide receiver Curtis Samuel.
Furthermore, Samuel has since been placed on Injured Reserve (IR) for injuries to his elbow and knee. That will sideline Samuel for at least the next four games, with his earliest return coming in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In addition to those four players being ruled out, three players are listed as questionable for Sunday in Pittsburgh. Offensive lineman Tylan Grable (IR; concussion), tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring), and wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle) will likely be game-time decisions based on pregame warmups.
Grable has been on IR since August, but recently had his 21-day practice window opened, to which he responded with full participation in the lead-up to the Week 13 game. Kincaid has been managing a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the team’s two prior games (Weeks 11 and 12). His status this week is a positive development, which hopefully ends with him suiting up on Sunday.
As for Palmer, it’s a concerning situation where it appears he may have re-aggravated a prior ankle injury (October) during his recent return to action. Should Kincaid and Palmer be unable to play, that would leave quarterback Josh Allen with far fewer starting pass catchers whom he has built rapport with — on top of having to navigate a stout Pittsburgh defense without his bookend offensive tackles.
Palmer wasn’t targeted in the Bills’ Week 12 loss to the Houston Texans.
