Buffalo Rumblings
After a walkthrough practice on Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills held a full practice today as they prepare to host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. Their daily injury report was nearly identical to yesterday, but that ‘nearly’ is a big one.
After not being on the injury report at all on Wednesday, A.J. Epenesa showed up in street clothes at Thursday’s practice. Now the defensive end is listed as a non-participant dealing with a foot injury.
If Epenesa is sidelined, the Bills will have to look way down the roster to find enough edge rushers to put the pressure on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. It’s fairly certain that defensive end Joey Bosa won’t play Sunday. He may not even make it back to the field for Week15’s match up with the New England Patriots.
That leaves just Greg Rousseau and Javon Solomon as the only current rostered defensive ends. Rousseau signed a contract extension during the offseason and, no doubt, the Bills were expecting big things to match the money they gave him. Instead, the 25-year-old Rousseau has recorded just 19 tackles and 3 sacks. Buffalo will need him to step up in a big way over the next two weeks.
The Bills also have a pair of defensive ends stashed on the practice squad. Nine-year veteran defensive end Morgan Fox has been waiting his turn to be elevated on game day, and, as of yet, hasn’t got the call. Just 10 days ago, the Bills brought back defensive end Shaq Lawson to Buffalo as a member of their practice squad. Without Bosa and Epenesa, the Bills will have to elevate at least one – if not both – for Sunday’s game.
