Week 10 Injury Report (2023): Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos

The Buffalo Bills are 5-4 after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals last week. The injury bug continues to plague the Bills as two more defensive starters, S Micah Hyde and CB Christian Benford, will miss tonight’s game and another (LB Terrel Bernard) is listed as questionable.

Saturday injury report pic.twitter.com/snvA5W9B76

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) November 11, 2023

Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos enter the game extremely healthy. They have no players listed as questionable and only have a handful of players on the IR, which include TE Greg Dulcich, WR Tim Patrick, and S Caden Sterns.

OUT

S Micah Hyde

Micah suffered a “neck/stinger” injury late against the Bengals. He left the game and did not return. He did not practice all week and will not be active.

#Bengals OL Cordell Volson was fined $5,746 for unnecessary roughness. Volson hit and injured #Bills safety Micah Hyde after a play on SNF, but was not penalized.pic.twitter.com/1EUw8o2gpf

— Ryan Talbot (@RyanTalbotBills) November 11, 2023

This is a significant injury for Hyde because of his recent neck history. Although not confirmed, Hyde likely underwent an Anterior Cervical Discectomy Fusion (ACDF) last year.

A player returning to a contact sport runs a risk returning from these types of injuries. Usually, once they suffer a new stinger or severe neck ailment, it’s game over. It will be interesting to see if Hyde does attempt to play again, not just this year, but ever.

CB Christian Benford

Benford will miss this week with a ‘hamstring’ injury. He popped up on the Friday injury report before last week’s game but was able to play. McDermott said he strained his hamstring again in the Bengals game and was unable to return.

To add to this, Sean McDermott said that Christian Benford tweaked his hamstring. Benford did not play the second half. His injury was not reported during the game. https://t.co/s3Iau3ad9k

— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) November 6, 2023

Hamstring injuries usually require about two weeks to recover (1), which leaves Benford iffy for next week. He did not practice at all this week.

Questionable: LB Terrel Bernard

Bernard left last week’s game with a ‘concussion’ and was limited all week in practice. The Buffalo Bills LB likely suffered his head injury early in the 2^nd quarter but stayed in until the next series. 

I believe Bernard had his concussion much earlier in game before he came out. I think it occurred here. #billsmafia @BfloFanatics pic.twitter.com/YGKpmnFMEK

— Thigh Doctor (@ThighDoctor) November 6, 2023

There is a possibility he plays this week, but the team showed a conservative approach with Dalton Kincaid following his head injury in London. Both players practiced limited all week prior to the next game. I don’t think Bernard will play, especially with the return of Baylon Spector this week. Bernard is currently in Stage 4 of 5 in the concussion protocol and must be cleared by the team physician and an Independent Neurological Consultant.

Also Listed 

QB Josh Allen

Josh Allen is still listed on the Buffalo Bills injury report with his right shoulder injury, but was a full participant in practice this week.

WR Stefon Diggs

Diggs popped up on the injury report mid-week with a ‘back’ injury. This caused him to be limited in the last two practices of the week. He likely suffered his back injury on the two-point conversion against the Bengals.

Allen. Diggs. Two-point conversion.

📺: #BUFvsCIN on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/T6GLEfxpQv pic.twitter.com/ZUBHSPSa3s

— NFL (@NFL) November 6, 2023

There is no report on what his diagnosis is, but as you can see, he landed hard on his lower right back. This could be anything from a contusion to a pinched nerve. He was seen at practice favoring his right leg, which may or may not allude to him dealing with right sided radiculopathy. This will not rule him out Monday night but carries a far worse prognosis.

S Jordan Poyer

Poyer was listed with a ‘shin’ injury that caused him to miss the first practice of the week. He resumed full participation the rest of the week and will be active. He likely suffered a contusion, which wasn’t significant to bother him last week as he played 100% of the defensive snaps.

LB Baylon Spector

Spector re-aggravated his preseason ‘hamstring’ injury during their Week 7 matchup against the Patriots. Generally, players miss about two weeks for a hamstring strain, which falls in line with Spector’s return tonight.

LB A.J. Klein

Klein suffered a ‘back’ injury during practice sometime last week. This week, he was a full participant in practice twice and will be available tonight.

Citations

1. Beaulieu-Jones BR, Rossy WH, Sanchez G, Whalen JM, Lavery KP, McHale KJ, Vopat BG, Van Allen JJ, Akamefula RA, Provencher MT. Epidemiology of Injuries Identified at the NFL Scouting Combine and Their Impact on Performance in the National Football League: Evaluation of 2203 Athletes From 2009 to 2015. Orthop J Sports Med. 2017 Jul 24; 5(7): 2325967117708744. doi: 10.1177/2325967117708744. PMID: 28812033; PMCID: PMC5529031.
2. Lynch TS, Saltzman MD, Ghodasra JH, Bilimoria KY, Bowen MK, Nuber GW. Acromioclavicular joint injuries in the National Football League: epidemiology and management. Am J Sports Med. 2013 Dec; 41(12): 2904-8. doi: 10.1177/0363546513504284. Epub 2013 Sep 20. PMID: 24057030.

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