Ahead of the anticipated benching of Trent Murphy and Harrison Phillips, the Buffalo Bills have elevated defensive tackle Justin Zimmer and edge rusher Bryan Cox Jr. to their active roster. At least initially, it looks like the Bills are shuffling their personnel, rather than making a schematic shift against the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’ll be Zimmer’s second promotion to the active roster this season, after he appeared in the season opener. Against the New York Jets, Zimmer played 16 snaps, but had an efficient four tackles (one tackle for loss) in that stint. By elevating Zimmer again, the Bills have used up both of Zimmer’s gameday promotions for the season. If they want to bring him into another game, they’ll need to sign him to their roster for real.
It’ll be the first appearance of the year for Cox, who had 14 tackles and a half sack in 2019. There weren’t any preseason games this year, but Cox showed up early and often in training camp practice reports.
The Bills only have 10 sacks on the season, putting them on pace for their fewest since 2017. They haven’t created much disruption, either—Ryan Tannehill was only hit twice out of 32 dropbacks on Tuesday.