The Buffalo Bills are adding depth to their linebacker room by bringing back a familiar face.
The team announced on Dec. 23 that they signed Nicholas Morrow to the active roster, close to three weeks after they released the veteran linebacker. Morrow will provide some depth after the team placed linebacker Baylon Spector on injured reserve, potentially ending his season.
Nicholas Morrow Returns to Bolster Linebacker Group
Morrow signed with the Bills this offseason after spending a season with the Philadelphia Eagles. Though he appeared in 11 games this season, Morrow played a light role on defense and was used mostly on special teams. Morrow played just 44 total snaps on defense this season and 182 on special teams, making three total tackles.
Spector was listed on last week’s injury report with a calf injury but was active for Sunday’s 24-21 win over the New England Patriots, though was forced to leave the game and missed the second half.
The team placed him on injured reserve on Monday, meaning Spector must miss at least four weeks before he would be eligible to return. The Bills have two regular-season games remaining and will likely play in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The Bills are currently two games behind the Kansas City Chiefs for the No. 1 overall spot, and the Bills would need to close out with two victories and have the Chiefs lost both games in order for Buffalo to earn a first-round bye.
Bills Dealing With Injuries
Spector’s trip to injured reserve is the latest injury setback for the Bills on defense. The team was forced to play without both starting safeties against the Patriots as Taylor Rapp is nursing a neck injury and Damar Hamlin has an injury to his ribs.
Linebacker Matt Milano also has an injured groin and missed the Patriots game.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott told reporters that he’s seeing improvement from all of the team’s injured players.
“A lot of these guys are getting better that were out yesterday,” McDermott said. “We’ll see how they do throughout the week.”
The Bills could have the opportunity to rest their injured players, along with other starters they want to preserve for the playoffs. If the Chiefs win their game on Christmas Day, the Bills will be out of contention for the No. 1 overall seed, while a Bills win on Sunday would lock them into the No. 2 seed.
The team may take the chance to rest other players, including quarterback Josh Allen who suffered an arm injury in Sunday’s win over the Patriots. Allen was hurt when he fell hard to the turf on a third-quarter run, telling reporters after the game that he hit his funny bone and felt numbness in his right hand for a while afterward.
Allen played much of the season with a broken left hand that he suffered on a Week 1 touchdown run. The Bills quarterback has worn a protective glove on the non-throwing hand and the injury has since healed, but the team may take the opportunity to give him rest in Week 18 if their playoff seeding is locked in.
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Bills Bring Back Veteran Linebacker Weeks After Releasing Him