Week 18 Injury Report: Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

The Buffalo Bills are 12-3 and on a six-game winning streak, still. Last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals had an unprecedented stoppage due to the injury to Damar Hamlin.

Thankfully, Damar has turned a major corner in recovery and the Bills are ready to honor him and finish the season’s goal.

The injury bug has hit the Bills hard this season. The obvious new addition to the IR this week was Damar Hamlin. He joins DE Von Miller, WR Jake Kumerow, WR Jamison Crowder, OT Tommy Doyle, and S Micah Hyde.

Standout rookie CB Christian Benford was activated to the 53-man roster for this Sunday. In other good news, the Bills have no players with an injury designation this week, so all hands will be on deck.

As for the New England Patriots, they will have a lot of questions marks for Sunday. OT Isaiah Wynn and OT Marcus Cannon are on IR. Meanwhile, CB Jonathan Jones, WR Jakobi Meyers, CB Jalen Mills, and TE Jonnu Smith are ‘Questionable’ for the game. All practiced on Friday, but Mills (groin) missed the past five games and Smith (concussion) missed last week, for what it’s worth.

LISTED

CB Taron Johnson

Taron sustained a ‘concussion’ on the first series in the Bengals’ game. It appears he would not have returned to the game, but fortunately he has cleared the concussion protocol and will play Sunday.

S Jordan Poyer

Poyer was listed with a ‘knee’ injury the past three weeks. It is now known he is dealing with a lateral meniscus tear.

A few weeks ago, Poyer said that he ‘banged’ it up during the Dolphins game. He has played a full snap share ever since. Meniscal tears are common in the NFL, however lateral tears are a little more difficult to deal with. It appears he will be able to continue to play through this injury, but it can have a negative effect his cutting/change of direction. To note, he was not wearing any type of brace last week.

LB Matt Milano

Milano was a surprise addition to the injury report with a ‘knee’ injury a month ago. He showed up prior to Week 14, which was odd considering he played 100% of the snaps against the Patriots in Week 13. He has been limited in practice each week since but is participating more recently, which is a good sign. His injury is unknown, but he has been seen wearing a hinged brace. This is usually worn for knee sprains such as an MCL or LCL sprain.

DT Jordan Phillips

Phillips suffered his ‘shoulder’ injury late in the Week 13 Patriots game. He fell on an outstretched arm when pursuing Mac Jones late in the game. Phillips’ injury caused him to miss the following two weeks. In my opinion, Phillips appeared to suffer a dislocation/labral tear. The average return to play is three weeks (1). He was able to return to action against the Bears, but only at a 24% snap share. This is about half of his usual rate. It was going to be interesting to see what type of snap count he was going to play against the Bengals, but he should only be healthier entering Week 18, as this marks over five weeks since his injury.

QB Josh Allen

Josh Allen suffered an ‘elbow’ sprain on the third to last play of the Jets game. He didn’t miss a single game. Furthermore, he has been a full participant in practice four out of the past six weeks. (He logged one ‘limited’ session prior to Week 16 and this week.) Josh Allen is fine and this is yet another example of his injury resilience.

TE Dawson Knox

Knox looked like he rocked his hip on the first play of the Bears game. He was able to re-enter the game. However, he has been limited in practice since. He is likely dealing with a mild hip contusion/pointer.

LB Tyrel Dodson (knee) and CB Cam Lewis (forearm) were also listed and will play.

Citations

1. Okoroha KR, Taylor KA, Marshall NE, Keller RA, FidaiM, Mahan MC, Varma V, Moutzouros V. Return to play after shoulder instability in National Football League athletes. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2018 Jan; 27(1): 17-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2017.07.027. Epub 2017 Sep 20. PMID: 28941971.

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