The Buffalo Bills dispatched the Miami Dolphins despite two offensive starters missing the game with injuries. A third, Jon Feliciano, suffered a multi-week injury in the process. And now, heading into their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, their injury list is growing, not shrinking.
On Thursday’s practice report, Jordan Poyer was added as a non-participant due to a shoulder injury. Cole Beasley was unable to practice for the second day in a row with a rib injury. And Brown, Knox, and Feliciano remain sidelined.
Adding it all up, the Bills will need to beat the Jaguars with some help from their B squad. If Poyer doesn’t practice tomorrow, expect Jaquan Johnson to start in his place. Gabriel Davis will need to step up in Beasley’s absence, and the Bills will probably look out of sync without Beasley getting open for quick throws from the slot. Meanwhile, the Bills will turn to Cody Ford and Ike Boettger to fill in the gaps on the offensive line, and they’ll count on Jamil Douglas and Tommy Doyle as emergency backups. Tommy Sweeney remains the starting tight end while Knox is out.
One other player to note is starting safety Micah Hyde. He was spotted with a splint on his thumb in practice, although the Bills didn’t list him on their injury report.
Also not on the injury report, but worth following regardless, is the news that practice squad players Jake Fromm and Tanner Gentry are currently on the COVID-19 reserve list. Hopefully there aren’t any more close contacts with those players, especially with QB and WR depth so critical to this team.
Ultimately the Jaguars are still a pathetic team, their only win of the season coming from a last-second field goal over the 1-7 Miami Dolphins. Their scoring offense and scoring defense are near the bottom of the league, while the Bills rank first in both stats.
But Buffalo’s depth will be tested even more than usual against this squad, with the added pressure of a game they expect to win, even in Jaguars territory.
With luck, the Bills can weather this storm, and see Knox and Brown, if not the other players, return to action next week against the New York Jets.
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