Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills took care of business in Week 4, defeating the New Orleans Saints in a matchup that Buffalo didn’t have well in hand until late in the fourth quarter. New Orleans was ready to give the Bills all they could handle, which manifested in a physical game at all levels.
Late in action with Buffalo punting away, punter Cameron Johnston suffered an injury while being rushed by the Saints’ special teams unit. Though it resulted in a roughing-the-kicker penalty and gave the Bills a new set of downs to put the game away, the main focus was on Johnston’s health after watching him in severe pain immediately after the play. This, after Johnston faced similarly intense contact on a penalty play by the Miami Dolphins the week before. Like this past weekend, the hit of Johnston by the Dolphins’ special-teams unit gave the Bills a fresh set of downs to push Miami aside.
A true warrior, Johnston got up and off the field, then had his left/plant leg wrapped up well so that he could re-enter the game. Soon after the injury, Johnston was back on the field to receive the snap as holder for kicker Matt Prater’s field goal. That helped to calm the nerves of Bills Mafia, but the severity of Johnston’s injury remained unknown.
After the game, Matt Bové shared video of Johnston leaving the field, carrying his helmet and a noticeable limp. The good news was that he headed to the locker room without any crutches or additional assistance. In a post by Lance Lysowski, we found out that “Johnston said his knee is feeling ’”solid,”‘ but he’s going for scans Monday.” Kyle Trimble of Banged Up Bills noted the potential good news, considering the contact to his leg.
On Monday, Ian Rapoport shared that Johnston’s “lower-leg injury” is expected to sideline him a bit, per sources, and noting that Injured Reserve was not discussed yet despite the obvious news that Buffalo is going to have to find another punter in the interim.
Late Monday afternoon, head coach Sean McDermott gave an update on Johnston, adding some confusion to the situation. McDermott said that Johnston suffered a foot/ankle injury, and that he’s going to miss some time. Images and video of the play showed Johnston holding his knee while on the ground, so we’ll have to wait for more information to become available.
McDermott added that they expect to bring in some punters — as in for tryouts to sign someone while Johnston is sidelined.
