Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills will be without one of their best offensive players when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. During his weekly on-air appearance with WGR 550AM, head coach Sean McDermott revealed that tight end Dalton Kincaid will miss Week 11 due to a hamstring injury suffered in-game against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday.
Kincaid had initially been labeled as week-t0-week with the hamstring injury, but after a week full of “DNP” for practices, it was a sure sign that he’d be made inactive for game day.
It’s yet another in a growing list of injuries to have sidelined Kincaid in his young career. Kincaid has missed games in each season dating back to his rookie campaign in 2023. That season, he missed just one game due to a concussion. Then in 2024 Kincaid suffered two separate injuries (shoulder, then later knee) that kept him out a total of four games.
At his year-end media session following the 2024 NFL season, general manager Brandon Beane said that they needed the 6’4”, 240-pound tight end to get stronger and become more durable. There was concern that Kincaid wasn’t big enough to handle the rigors that come with the territory of any NFL tight end.
In fairness to Kincaid, concussions and hamstring injuries don’t discriminate based on size and toughness. Still, with how important Kincaid is to Buffalo’s passing offense, any time missed due to injury is magnified. Additionally, it limits what offensive coordinator Joe Brady can implement out of 13 personnel when the team has just two viable tight ends (plus fullback Reggie Gilliam).
After two seasons where outsiders wondered when he might get more looks past the down and distance, Kincaid has been the Bills’ one consistent downfield threat as a true mismatch for defenses to try and contain in 2025. He’s an X-factor as an efficient pass catcher who operates more like a wide receiver than a traditional tight end. In eight games this season, Kincaid has caught 29 passes (36 targets) for 448 yards (15.4 ypr) with four touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference.
Kincaid had been on a trajectory to break the team’s all-time single-season receiving yards record of 726 yards set by tight end Paul Costa in 1967. He was also on pace for the first 1,000-yard campaign of his career, which would also have been the first such campaign for any tight end in Buffalo Bills history. Both are goals that could still be in play if Kincaid is able to get back on the field soon.
Joining Kincaid as “OUT” for Week 11 versus the Buccaneers is defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis, who is dealing with a shoulder injury. Keep it locked in here at Buffalo Rumblings for more detailed coverage of the Bills’ final injury report ahead of Week 11, which is listed below.
