Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are clinging to their playoff lives right now, and on Sunday they will have to beat the Cincinnati Bengals with a makeshift roster – although not quite as makeshift as last week when they took on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Before Friday’s practice, head coach Sean McDermott announced that defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Terrell Bernard had been ruled out for Sunday’s game. The announcement came as no surprise as neither has practiced at all this week.
Bernard missed last week’s game with an elbow injury he suffered in Houston during Thursday Night Football in Week 11. Linebacker Shaq Thompson played in his place, and the 11-year-veteran did just fine calling the defense while making nine combined tackles, five of them solo.
Bosa injured his hamstring last week while trying to get to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Earlier in the game, Bosa had a strip sack that set up cornerback Christian Benford’s scoop-and-score. It’s likely that this isn’t the only week Bosa is in street clothes, but on Wednesday, McDermott mentioned that he was hopeful it would just take a couple of weeks, rather than a month, to get him back on the field.
The Bills have listed wide receiver Joshua Palmer as doubtful, and that’s probably an optimistic listing as he hasn’t practiced at all this week, and only once last week.
While it should be considered good news that tight end Dalton Kincaid is questionable for Sunday, that question mark looms large. Kincaid has missed three games after injuring his hamstring a month ago in the Bills’ loss to the Miami Dolphins. Kincaid was questionable going into last week’s game too, and he didn’t make the final cut. While it would seem like a second week of practice should have him ready to play, Kincaid has managed to aggravate his knee while trying to rehab his hamstring. Last season, he had a PCL injury, and now he appeared in Friday’s practice with a knee brace on that same knee while looking slow and hesitant.
The problem for the Bills, should Kincaid not be able to go on Sunday, is that Keleki Latu, the tight end on their practice squad, is out of call-ups for the regular season. In order to use three tight ends, the Bills will have to put Kincaid on the field or Latu on the roster. They could opt to use fullback Reggie Gilliam more this week, but it’s likely that the game plan has already been set and not likely that offensive coordinator Joe Brady was planning on a Kincaid setback.
The other Bill with a game day designation is Spencer Brown. The Bills’ right tackle has been dealing with a shoulder injury for a couple of weeks and missed last week’s game. Alec Anderson played in his place, and, other than a couple of false starts, did a great job. So if Buffalo was to decide to give Brown another week, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is going to get another...
