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Week 10 Injury Report: Bills vs. Vikings

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4 months ago

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The Buffalo Bills are 6-2 after a blunder at the Meadowlands. As bad as the feeling of a divisional loss lingers, the story of the week has been the injury to Josh Allen. To the dismay of Bills Mafia’s mental health, this week has been a roller coaster trying to pinpoint Allen’s prognosis. In positive news, CB Tre’Davious White appears closer than ever to his season debut.

As for players on the reserve lists, G Ike Boettger (PUP list, ‘Achilles’) and WR Marquez Stevenson (IR, ‘foot’) have been performing on field drills recently. Meanwhile, S Micah Hyde and OT Tommy Doyle are on the season-ending IR. And WR Jamison Crowder remains on the IR as well.

As for the Minnesota Vikings, they are very healthy. The most notable player on their IR is TE Irv Smith. DE Dalvin Tomlinson and CB Cameron Dantzler will not play on Sunday.

OUT

S Jordan Poyer

Poyer has been ailing all year. He suffered a reported ‘hyperextended elbow’ in camp on August 2nd. Poyer was able to make it back for the Buffalo Bills’ season opener but has missed two games for a foot sprain and a pneumothorax. He ironically played in his first game without his elbow brace against the Packers and reinjured himself. He did not hyperextend his elbow, but nonetheless appears to suffer a moderate elbow sprain. 

Poyer has not practiced the past two weeks but is at least doing drills on the side with trainers now. He appears to still have swelling in his elbow, as well as limited motion. He will need to improve his elbow mobility before he will be cleared to play. Brace yourself to see Poyer’s elbow braced for the remainder of the season.

DE Gregory Rousseau

sportsmd.com

Groot suffered an ‘ankle’ sprain last week. It is a high-ankle sprain which will likely cost him multiple weeks. These usually carry around a four-week recovery. I would expect Groot back after Thanksgiving for Week 13. For context, DT Ed Oliver and WR Jake Kumerow both missed three games for the same injury this season.

QUESTIONABLE 

QB Josh Allen

spineorthocenter.com

Josh Allen suffered an ‘elbow’ sprain on the third to last play of the Jets game. However, he was still able to haul a 70-yard rope to Gabe Davis two plays later. The injury has been widely discussed locally and nationally. It is believed to be a UCL injury, which is the ‘Tommy John’ ligament.

This is the same injury that Allen sustained during his rookie year in 2018. The injury in 2018 caused Allen to miss four games (five weeks with the Bills’ bye week).

Fortunately, if the speculation is true, Josh Allen is dealing with a less severe sprain. He was labeled as ‘day-to-day’, but apparently is now ‘hour-to-hour’.

After missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday, Allen was able to participate on Friday in a limited fashion. He was seen in a jersey at practice on Friday, but quickly ran off the field when the media entered the fieldhouse. This can be interpreted in two ways. Either Allen didn’t want to be seen practicing, or the Bills wanted him to be seen in an attempt at gamesmanship. Having the Vikings unsure of his status can work as an advantage for Buffalo. 

At the end of the day, rest would only benefit Allen. Depending on the level of the sprain, which is tearing of the ligament, he could miss anywhere from 1-6 weeks. Fortunately, this appears to be mild and trending in the 1–3 week range. If there was a week to miss, an NFC opponent would be a good option for playoff seeding purposes. He very well could miss the next three weeks, especially with Week 12 being on a short week (Thanksgiving) and another NFC opponent. As for a prediction, I am just a big fanboy and I know Josh Allen is injury resilient. Don’t be surprised if Allen shocks the world and plays Sunday, defying years of the Buffalo Bills’ conservative philosophies.

Prediction: ACTIVE

LB Tremaine Edmunds

Edmunds landed on the injury list last week with a ‘heel’ injury. He played 100% of snaps the previous week, so the ailment should be minor. Edmunds is potentially dealing with a contusion/bruise on his heel. After playing in 100% of the snaps again against the Jets, he is now on the injury list for a ‘heel’ and a ‘groin’. His ailments caused him to miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Furthermore, he was only able to practice on Friday in a limited fashion. Due to the soft tissue injury in the groin, I think the Buffalo Bills rest Tremaine for a week.

Prediction: INACTIVE

DOUBTFUL

CB Kaiir Elam

Elam injured his ‘ankle’ against the Jets but was able to return to the game. He practiced in a limited fashion on Wednesday but was oddly downgraded to DNP on Thursday and Friday. He is either dealing with the remnants of the injury from the game or tweaked it again in practice on Wednesday. Due to his downward trend in practice, I don’t see Elam playing for Buffalo this week. 

Prediction: INACTIVE

ALSO LISTED 

OT Spencer Brown

Brown left the Bills-Chiefs game with an ‘ankle’ injury. It appeared to be the common lateral ankle sprain, which usually requires a 1-2 week recovery. However, the mechanism of the injury was severe and required Brown to don a walking boot after the game. 

He was able to practice last week in a limited fashion, and now he has ramped up to full for two sessions this week. He will be active on Sunday.

LB Matt Milano

Milano popped up on the injury report with an ‘oblique’ injury last week and subsequently missed the Jets game. The injury was odd, as he played in 100% of Buffalo’s snaps the previous week. He likely is dealing with a minor strain, as he was able to practice in full twice this week.

insideinjuries.com

CB Dane Jackson

Jackson exited the Bills-Jets game briefly with another ‘neck’ injury. It appeared to be another stinger, but he was able to return. Since his grotesque neck injury in Week 2, Jackson appears to have had two more stingers in his neck this season. This likely does not bode well long-term, but he was able to return to practice on Thursday and Friday in full and will be active for the Bills on Sunday.

aafp.org

C Mitch Morse

Morse was injured on the first series of the Bills-Titans game. He appeared to hyperextend his ‘elbow’. He was able to return to the game but did not play the following week at Miami. Morse likely has an elbow sprain in some nature, and he was able to play the past five games. Morse was able to practice in full on Thursday and Friday for the second straight week.

OT David Quessenberry

Quessenberry played every snap against the Jets, filling in for an injured Spencer Brown for a second straight week. He appeared to strain his ‘groin’ late in the week. It should be very minor as he practiced in full on Thursday and Friday. He will be active, but it will be interesting to see who the Buffalo Bills play at RT this week with a healthy Spencer Brown back. 

CB Cam Lewis

Lewis has been listed with ‘forearm’, ‘knee’, and ‘quad’ injuries all season, the latter two even before playing in his first game. He is listed with a ‘forearm’ again this week but was a full participant the entire week. He will be available for Sunday, but the Bills may choose to have him inactive based on numbers. 

G Rodger Saffold

Saffold normally has vet rest on Wednesdays, which he did this week. However, he was also designated with a ‘back’ injury. He practiced in full for Buffalo on Thursday and Friday.

Featured Image: John Minchillo/AP

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