Bills vs. Commanders: First injury report of Week 3

After two weeks of (mostly) clean injury reports, it was inevitable that the Buffalo Bills would have more than a few bumps and bruises sooner or later. And now we know that it’s sooner.

Before Wednesday’s practice, head coach Sean McDermott spoke with members of the media and stated that the Bills would be missing a few players in the first practice before their game with the Washington Commanders. That list features a number of notable players:

• Micah Hyde (hamstring)
• Leonard Floyd (ankle)
• Dawson Knox (back)
• Jordan Phillips (illness)

While Hyde and Floyd are no surprises, there was no indication that Knox or Bernard were physically struggling before McDermott’s announcement.

Hyde and Floyd were both injured late in Sunday’s game where the Bills beat the Las Vegas Raiders 38-10. Both were attended to by trainers but never left the sideline until after the game — and, when they did, Hyde quickly downplayed his injury and said he would be ready for Washington. However, as a nonparticipant today, he’ll need to put in some good work over the next two days to convince McDermott that he’s ready to play Sunday.

As for Knox, let’s just hope that he’s experiencing stiffness and soreness as appeared to be the case with Hyde when he was the team’s first occupant on the injured list during Week 1. This isn’t the first time Knox has appeared on Buffalo’s injury list with some pain. Last season he was listed with hip and back injuries during Week 3 of the NFL season but was still an active participant during the “heat game” in Miami. So, while Kincaid is doing a more-than-adequate job at tight end, let’s hope that this is just a matter of soreness to work through, and Josh Allen can have his entire arsenal of weapons on Sunday.

During the portion of practice open to the media, Knox and Floyd were seen hanging with their position groups. Floyd, however, spent the time on the exercise bike on the sidelines

It is also worth noting that, after his confidence-building performance on Sunday, linebacker Terrell Bernard was expected to be limited today with an unidentified lower leg injury.

We will update with more information as it becomes available, as well as with any injury reports that the Commanders make available this evening.