Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills drafted two cornerbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft: one in the first round and one in the sixth. Now they are both on Injured Reserve (IR).
Ahead of Sunday night’s AFC East game with the New England Patriots, the Bills announced that rookie Dorian Strong was being placed on IR. Strong, who has been a great boundary cornerback, splitting time with veteran Tre’Davious White, first popped up on the injury report for Thursday.
There has been absolutely no information about when, how, or to what extent he suffered the neck injury he’s listed with. On Friday morning, head coach Sean McDermott announced that he had already ruled the rookie out for Sunday, and a little more than 24 hours later he was taken off the active roster.
The 6’1” cornerback had two tackles in Week 1 when he started in place of the injured White. He continued to rotate into the lineup despite White’s return the following week and picked up three more tackles over the next two weeks before recording four solo takedowns in Buffalo’s Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Now Strong won’t be available to the Bills until Week 10. A trip to IR means a mandatory out for four games. Buffalo plays two games and then has a bye in Week 7. That means that Strong’s practice window can’t be opened until at least November 3.
The Bills started the season with first-round draft pick Maxwell Hairston on IR with an LCL injury. While they designated him to return, meaning they could open his practice window on September 29, Buffalo has not yet returned Hairston to practice. There have been videos this week of the rookie working with athletic trainers as he tries to get ready to make his NFL debut.
With both Hairston and Strong temporarily off the roster, Buffalo has just Ja’Marcus Ingram playing behind both White and Christian Benford. Technically, they have Brandon Codrington, but at 5’9” his primary usage is as a punt/kick returner, not as a pass defender.
Hairston could return soon, but he has no experience having missed all but the first week of training camp. Last week, McDermott warned that expectations need to be managed as to how quickly or not the rookie will adapt to the speed and intensity of the NFL. However, the fact that the Bills filled Strong’s roster spot with a linebacker, Jimmy Ciarlo, might be a telling factor that they do expect to get their 2025 first-round draft pick on the field soon.
The Bills really could be looking at playing the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 with Benford, an aging Tre’Davious White, and a rookie playing his first ever NFL game on the boundaries.
