Five Bills players not practicing Wednesday — including safeties Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer

As the Buffalo Bills begin their Week 4 preparations to host the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins, head coach Sean McDermott had a short list of players who would not participate in Wednesday’s practice due to injuries.

Safety Micah Hyde headlined that list as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury he suffered late in the Bills’ Week 2 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Hyde played the majority of Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders, logging 81% of the team’s defensive snaps. The hamstring injury didn’t appear to slow the veteran down much, as he recorded his first interception of the season — and his first since January 2022 — in the second quarter.

Another player who’s on the injury radar for the Bills for the second week in a row is edge rusher Leonard Floyd. Floyd injured his ankle just a few plays before Hyde injured his hamstring back in Week 2. But, like Hyde, the injury didn’t keep the 31-year-old pass rusher out of Sunday’s game in the nation’s capital. Floyd recorded three tackles, two sacks, and five quarterback pressures as Buffalo defeated Washington 37-3 in a game that could be described as a defensive masterpiece.

Offensive lineman Ryan Bates, who fills in at a variety of positions along the line for the Bills, also isn’t practicing on Wednesday. Bates was playing center for Mitch Morse after the Bills pulled the majority of their starters late in Sunday’s game when he had teammate Ryan Van Demark fall on his leg. Later, he was listed with an ankle injury, and on Monday, McDermott said that he would be day-to-day.

New to the list of injuries for this season are safety Jordan Poyer, who’s listed with a knee injury, and defensive back/special teams player Siran Neal who McDermott said is dealing with an ankle injury.

It might be worthy to note that Poyer had a meniscus tear at some point last season and played through the injury in the playoffs. I never heard mention as to whether the 32-year-old Poyer, who resigned with the Bills this spring after testing the free agency market, had surgery to repair the injury during the offseason or was banking on rest and some physical therapy to provide enough healing. There was no mention from McDermott as to whether this is what is bothering Poyer, or if it is even the same knee as last season, but definitely something to keep an eye on throughout the week.

While it isn’t the clean list with just one or two players nursing some bumps and bruises that we’ve seen through the first three weeks of the season, today’s injury list is still looking pretty good for putting a complete team on the field at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.