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Bills Injury Roundup: Free Agency Second Wave

Published

2 months ago

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The Buffalo Bills signed four more free agents during the second wave of free agency. They are RB Damien Harris, S Taylor Rapp, OG David Edwards, and WR Trent Sherfield. This adds to their additions of OG Connor McGovern and WR Deonte Harty during the first wave of free agency. Unfortunately, behind all good bargains is an injury history. This holds true, as most of these players do come with significant medical baggage.

RB Damien Harris

Harris may have been the fan favorite of these additions, but he has a plethora of ailments over his four NFL seasons.

Prior to the NFL, Harris had two reported ailments in college, an ankle injury and a concussion. These did not yield any missed games. His rookie season in 2019 was forgettable, as he was a healthy scratch often. Littered in the mix was a hamstring strain; though it’s unclear if it would have caused missed games due to the lack game day roster activations. The injuries started to pile up thereafter.

In 2020, Harris missed six games. He found himself on the IR to start the season with a pinkie fracture, which resulted in three missed games. He then missed the final three weeks of the season with a high ankle sprain.

The 2021 season was healthier. However, he missed two games. This included a game a piece for a concussion and a hamstring strain. Both injuries were the second time of his career for those ailments respectively.

This past season, 2022, Harris was injured often again. A hamstring (third of career) and an illness caused him to miss a game each. Then he hobbled down the stretch with a thigh injury, causing four more missed games. 

Overall, Harris has missed 14 games over the past three seasons. His hamstring injuries should be the greatest concern entering 2023.

Injury Risk: Moderate

S Taylor Rapp

Rapp’s career in the NFL has seen a mix of minor and moderate injuries. Prior to his career, the only known college injury was a hip flexor strain. This caused him to miss a month of football, including the Rose Bowl game that concluded his collegiate career.

In his rookie season in 2019, Rapp only missed one game. This was for an ankle injury. The next season, 2020, Rapp missed the final seven games of the season with an MCL sprain in his knee. He had no reported surgery, but seven games is an extensive amount of time to miss for an MCL sprain.

sportsinjuryclinic.net

The past two seasons, 2021 and 2022, have been less injury laden. 2021 saw Rapp miss all three postseason games for a concussion. He was able to return for the Super Bowl. Then, this past season (2022), Rapp only missed one game for a rib injury.

Overall, Rapp does not carry a significant injury risk. There shoulder be some pause though for the extensive length of recovery that was required for his MCL (seven games) and concussion (three games).

Injury Risk: Mild

G David Edwards

Edwards carried the highest risk of all the free agent signings. He had significant injuries in college and this past season. Otherwise, Edwards was healthy in all other years.

Prior to entering the NFL, Edwards suffered a nerve injury in his neck that limited him for at least six weeks. This was most likely due to a significant stinger/pinched nerve.

orthoinfo.aaos.org

Fortunately, the first three seasons of his NFL career (2019-2021) were virtually unscathed. He did miss the last postseason game in 2020 due to an ankle injury, so it is unknown if he would have missed more time.

The worst injury of Edwards’ career came this past season (2022). He missed his Week 4 game for a concussion, only to suffer another concussion a week later. That second concussion caused him to miss the final 12 games. Entering 2023, he will have not played a game since this ailment, which raises a major red flag.

Injury Risk: High

WR Trent Sherfield

Don’t worry about Trent. He only missed one game in his career with COVID.

Injury Risk: Low

Featured Image: AP Photo/Winslow Townson

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