The Buffalo Bills did not violate the league’s injury reporting policy with the way they treated Jerry Hughes and his wrist injury, an NFL spokesperson informed the Pro Football Writers Association on Monday. After Hughes posted on Instagram about playing through torn ligaments, the league had announced an investigation into whether the Bills went against policy.
The policy specified that, to be in violation, the Bills would need to knowingly leave Hughes off their injury list and that the injury would have to be “notable.” As a “key” member of Buffalo’s roster, Hughes fit the criteria to attract extra scrutiny for the policy.
While past violations of the policy had resulted in both warnings and actual penalties, the Bills were not found at fault in this case. That would imply that the team did not know about Hughes’s wrist injury, or that the full extent wasn’t known until his postseason physical exam.
Other Buffalo Bills underwent “surprise” offseason surgery, but Hughes was the only one who triggered an NFL investigation at the time.