The Bills injury report for this weekend’s game at Cincinnati is pretty light, with a lot fewer names than normal listed after the bye week gave the team plenty of time to heal up.
The biggest name on the list is defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, who missed the Week 9 loss to Seattle with a groin injury and is listed as questionable against the Bengals. Between that injury, a previous hamstring injury, and a four-game suspension, Dareus has only played in 41 snaps so far this year. That said, he did manage four tackles and a sack in those games, and still looks explosive when he’s on the field.
His replacement for most of the early part of the season, Corbin Bryant, has been ruled out for Sunday with a shoulder injury. It will be Bryant’s second straight absence, and given that he hasn’t practiced at all this week there could be more to come. Ideally, Dareus will be able to come in and play a full game more or less, but if he can’t it’s likely that Jerel Worthy will pick up most of the slack on the interior defensive line.
One name that isn’t on the injury report is center Eric Wood, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with an ankle injury suffered in the loss to the Seahawks. In his stead, Rex Ryan has stated that Ryan Groy is going to be the starter this week. Considering that the only other player on the roster with center experience (Patrick Lewis) has been inactive for most of the season, this was pretty much a no-brainer.
A trio of wide receivers are listed as questionable for this week, highlighted by Robert Woods and his lingering foot injury. Considering that he recorded ten catches for 162 yards against Seattle with that same injury, he should be fine for Sunday. Walt Powell (hip) and Justin Hunter (groin) could also miss time, although the loss of either player will be offset by the return of Brandon Tate, who has left the concussion protocol and has been a full participant in practice for two days. Percy Harvin’s role in the offense will also continue to increase, and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn seems ready to put him into the starting lineup this week.
The only other player on the report is linebacker Jerry Hughes, who is questionable for the third straight game with a hand injury. The injury doesn’t seem to have limited him so far this season, and he should be fine against the Bengals as well.
Some notable injury report mainstays have taken the bye week to remove themselves from the list entirely. Offensive tackle Cordy Glenn, tight end Charles Clay, fullback Jerome Felton, and defensive tackle Kyle Williams have all spent multiple weeks on the injury report this year, but are nowhere to be found this week. All four are key players for the Bills, and if the team wants to make a playoff push its going to need all four playing at 100%. This is as good a start as could be hoped for.