Bills Get Bad News on $68 Million DT Before Jets Game

The Buffalo Bills narrowly defeated the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 thriller on Sunday Night Football.

With Buffalo down 15 points with under four minutes to go, Bills quarterback Josh Allen went off in the fourth quarter, finishing with 394 passing yards and two touchdowns, along with two rushing scores during the 41-40 victory.

Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver was the sole bright spot on Buffalo’s defense. He forced Ravens‘ running back Derrick Henry to fumble with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter, a turnover that led to Allen scoring a 1-yard rushing touchdown.

Oliver seemed to be the only player who could slow Henry down. He finished the matchup with a sack, six tackles, two quarterback pressures and five stops. “Yeah, big game. Ed had a big game,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said told WGR Sports Radio 550.

“You could feel his play out there. Whether it was the run game, the pass game, a couple good hits on the quarterback, a couple big plays in the run game behind the line of scrimmage, and then forcing the fumble. Like the entire team, he didn’t quit. There was no quit in that team, in our team. And that’s a good thing as we look to move forward.”

Looking forward to Week 2, however, it seems the Bills may be playing without their $68 million starter when they face the New York Jets.

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Bills DT Ed Oliver Showed Up To Practice In a Boot & Riding A Scooter On Thursday

Not only did Oliver pop on up Thursday’s injury report with a left ankle injury, he was also seen at the facility in a boot and riding a scooter, per the Niagara Gazette’s Nick Sabato. While it’s unclear when the injury took place, “He didn’t have it yesterday,” Sabato noted.

WROC-TV’s Thad Brown speculated, “Boot and scooter was where Khalil Shakir was a couple days after his high ankle sprain at the Blue/Red game. Definitely need more info, but seems very possible and Oliver is missing time.”

McDermott held a walkthrough on Thursday, and Oliver was officially listed as a non-participant.

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Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott Was Proud Of How Ed Oliver Stepped Up in Week 1

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Co. registered 433 yards of offense against Buffalo in Week 1. While that’s unacceptable for a team looking to make a run to the Super Bowl. McDermott was proud that Oliver, the Bills– first round pick from the 2019 NFL draft, stepped up.

“You want to continue to grow and improve and evolve, and he wants to continue to take his game to another level,” McDermott said of the seven-year veteran. “He’s shown that he’s worked and to put himself in that position. Now it’s the week-in and week-out intentionality that you take into every week, and you see what he can do when he’s in that space.”

When Oliver was asked if his Week 1 performance as a sign of things to come, “Hopefully,” he told the AP. “But you know I got to take it one week at a time.”