The Buffalo Bills’ running backs rotation took a hit during Sunday’s wild-card win when rookie Ray Davis suffered a head injury.
Targeted by quarterback Josh Allen as a receiver midway through the third quarter, Davis absorbed a crushing helmet-to-helmet hit from Denver Broncos’ safety Brandon Jones. The rookie running back eventually walked off the field and into the locker room. Meanwhile, Jones was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving Buffalo a fresh set of downs in Broncos’ territory.
The Bills initially ruled Davis questionable to return while evaluating him. They downgraded him to out in the fourth quarter, and he remains in the league-mandated concussion protocol one day later.
“Ray Davis is in concussion protocol,” said head coach Sean McDermott while addressing reporters virtually on late Monday afternoon.
Davis, who played seven offensive snaps in his NFL postseason debut, must now successfully progress through a five-stage process before returning to game action.
“I passed him in the hallway today. I had a chance to catch up with him and reached out to him, connected with him last night,” said McDermott. “From a human standpoint, he seems to be in a decent spot. The medical piece, all I really know right now is he’s in the protocol.”
At 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Davis posted a simple message to the fans on the social media site now known as X.
“Love y’all,” said Davis, who played in all 17 regular season games as a rookie.
He totaled 631 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns after being selected by the Bills at No. 128 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. Davis has proven to be a helpful addition to a Buffalo backfield that relies on three complementary pieces with James Cook serving as RB1 and Ty Johnson mastering third-down duties.
As a result of the 31-7 win on January 12, the Bills will host the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Round on January 19.
