When the Buffalo Bills released safety Dean Marlowe and returner Andre Roberts, we immediately heard that both would be back on the roster after two players were put on injured reserve. We knew one would be lineman Jon Feliciano, but the other was a bit more mysterious.
Over the weekend, the Bills placed wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins on injured reserve as that other roster move. The rookie made an impression in camp but injured his shoulder. It could be a quick return, hence the waiting to place him on injured reserve, or it could be longer term.
“He has something that may require surgery at some point, but not right now,” general manager Brandon Beane said this week. “We’re going to let it calm down and see if he can get some strength in his shoulder and see where it goes. He battled hard and finished camp with it. I do think it was affecting him a little bit, so we’ll see. At some point, if we need to shut him down, we will, but right now we’re going to try this approach and see if he’s able to come back and help us should we need him at the end of the season.”
If they thought he was done for the season, they could have placed him on injured reserve prior to cutdowns to end his year before it began. Holding him means they hope he can contribute in 2020.
Our Banged Up Bills expert a.k.a. Kyle Trimble had this to speculate:
“The shoulder harness is commonly seen with labrum tears, but could also be seen with rotator cuff tears,” said Trimble. “The wording suggests a small rotator cuff tear. The difference is that the RC can heal with rehab where the labrum doesn’t. Could be labrum, still could play through w rest & rehab.”
“Another thought on Hodgins, could be impingement, could need a shoulder clean out, shave down the acromion to reduce it rubbing on the rotator cuff. All options are on the table right now.”
Obviously that gets a little technical, but it means Hodgins should be able to return during the season depending on when the surgery actually takes place, if it happens at all.