At that point of the season they were missing the entire middle of their defense – Matt Milano was on Injured Reserve (IR), Taron Johnson had a fractured forearm, Terrel Bernard was out with a pectoral muscle, and before halftime, safety Taylor Rapp exited the game with a concussion.
On the other side of the ball, quarterback Josh Allen was playing with a broken hand and Khalil Shakir, the closest person Allen had to a WR1 a that time, was hobbled with an ankle injury he was trying to play through. Add to that, left tackle Dion Dawkins tweaked a hamstring and was unsteady as he tried to protect his less-than-usually-mobile quarterback.
Sunday will be different. This time two very healthy teams will face off on the frozen field at Highmark Stadium. The weather will be frigid, so anyone dealing with soft-tissue injuries would be at a disadvantage, but it looks like that won’t be the case this week.
Here’s a quick look at the injuries each team is dealing with…
New Bills injuries listed this week
- OL Alec Anderson (calf)
- CB Christian Benford (back)
- RB Ray Davis (concussion)
- CB Taron Johnson (neck)
- DE Greg Rousseau (finger)
- DB Cam Lewis (neck)
Anderson was listed as questionable to return with a calf injury, but he, too, did return. Now he’s limited, likely to keep the calf muscle from tightening up too much. There’s little worry about either Johnson or Anderson playing on Sunday — they will be in uniform.
Davis is another story. He left the game and entered concussion protocol after a hit to the head in the third quarter of Buffalo’s 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos. It was a great sign when he was listed as a limited participant for Wednesday’s practice.
An even better sign was that Davis was in pads on Thursday. While he was in a red, non-contact jersey and sporting a guardian cap, the fact that he’s with the team in drills means he’s working in Step 4 of the NFL’s 5 Step concussion protocol.
If Davis has no set back after today’s practice, we could see him out of the red on Friday. If he needs an extra day, the league does allow for teams to use Saturday as a chance for players to clear the final hurdle and return to play.
Cam Lewis had already been dealing with a shoulder injury he picked up back in Week 16, but during Sunday’s game, he used his upper body to push a Broncos runner out of bounds and, in doing so, now has a neck injury to go with it. Lewis initially left the game for a head check but was cleared to return with no signs of a concussion.
Like Johnson, he’s been a full participant and is likely just a little more sore this week than last. He, too, will be in uniform on Sunday.
Rousseau and Benford were never listed with injuries during the game, and it would look like the duo is just receiving maintenance treatment. They’re definitely not in jeopardy of losing playing time.
Lingering Bills injuries
- KR Brandon Codrington (hamstring)
- WR Amari Cooper (back)
- TE Dalton Kincaid (knee)
- LB Matt Milano (biceps)
- TE Quintin Morris (groin)
- LB Dorian Williams (elbow)
The big news here is that Codrington has been a full participant in both practices so far this week. The rookie kick/punt returner missed last week’s game as he dealt with a hamstring injury he suffered at the end of Week 18.
The Bills opted to let Codrington rest, although he said he felt healthy, knowing that they had Ty Johnson and Khalil Shakir ready to step in. It looks like this week, it will be back to business as usual on the special teams unit with Codrington healthy.
Everyone else listed above has been dealing with their respective injuries for weeks (or even the full season as is the case of Matt Milano).
For the Baltimore Ravens, there are just two injuries the team is dealing with, and one of those appears to be more a matter if they want to make some moves or if they are content with where there roster sits right now.
Wide receiver Deonte Harty, who was with the Bills last season, hasn’t played football since Week 5. Like his role in Buffalo, Harty was being used on special teams rather than on the offense returning punts and kicks.
However, a knee injury forced him onto the IR list before the season hit the halfway mark. It would have appeared that Harty was healthy enough to play last week, after a couple of days of full practice. However, the Ravens didn’t add him to their roster before the start of their wild card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, for a second week in a row, the sixth-year returner is a full participant at practice. The question will be if the Ravens have anyone they feel confident with taking off their active roster in order to make room for him.
The bigger concern for Baltimore is wide receiver Zay Flowers. The second-year receiver out of Boston College has been sidelined with a knee injury. He has been unable to practice for two weeks now. While on Monday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that Flowers could still play, it’s looking less and less like that could happen.
