Buffalo Rumblings
Thursday was another up and down day in the world of Buffalo Bills football. The Bills held their second official practice of Week 9, and that means we got another daily injury report. There was good news on the report – and, of course, there was not so good news.
Let’s take a look at the “no-news” first. No one on the Injured Reserve (IR) list had their practice window opened Thursday – which means they probably won’t at all this week. In fairness, it’s just offensive lineman Tylan Grable, who went to IR before the season started (designated to return) with a concussion, and kicker Tyler Bass, who found himself on the IR at the start of Week 1 with a groin/hip injury, who are even eligible to return right now. In this case, no news isn’t good news.
In the other not-so-good news category are defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and linebacker Shaq Thompson. Jones missed yet another day of practice after injuring his calf in Week 6 pregame warmups. Thompson played last week in a rotation with linebacker Joe Andreessen as they made up for the missing Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano.
When head coach Sean McDermott went through the injury rundown before Wednesday’s practice, the linebacker’s name was not one that was mentioned. By the end of the day on Wednesday, he was listed as limited due to a hamstring issue. With a downgrade to DNP on Thursday, it would seem that Thompson may have been injured in practice. Not good news, as it means he will likely not play Sunday – maybe not even next Sunday.
But, as promised, it’s not all bad news from yesterday. While Thompson may be out, it looks as though both Bernard and Milano may be in. Both linebackers have now completed two full days of practice, so, barring any disasters on Friday, we may see the starting band of Bernard, Milano, and Dorian Williams back together Sunday.
There’s more good news, but we need to manage expectations with this one. Wide receiver Joshua Palmer, who injured both his ankle and his knee in Week 6, was upgraded from a DNP to a limited participant on Thursday. While this is good news that we may see Palmer back on the field soon, I wouldn’t be overly hopeful that soon means Sunday. But – don’t forget – wide receiver Gabe Davis is healthy, provides that deep threat the Bills have been missing, knows the playbook, and has three practice squad elevations available.
Other injury news from Thursday includes running back Ray Davis returning after being out due to an illness on Wednesday, and kicker Matt Prater was still limited. Not activating Bass, coupled with no news of the Bills trying out kickers this week, would indicate that Buffalo has confidence that the veteran kicker will be ready for Sunday – or maybe it will be Ray Davis?
Injury designations are released later today. Expect Jones and Thompson to be out. McDermott could...
