Before the Buffalo Bills took to the practice field on Saturday, head coach Sean McDermott met with the media for a short period of time and revealed that the Bills should only be missing tight end, Reggie Gilliam, for their Monday night matchup against the New England Patriots.
“The only one (ruled out) would be Reggie Gilliam,” McDermott said on Saturday during a video conference call.
Heading into this week, there were a few question marks surrounding a few players after they suffered injuries against the Denver Broncos last Saturday. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs was hobbling around on the sideline and was even carted back and forth from the locker room during the fourth quarter on Saturday.
From the beginning of the week though McDermott speculated that Diggs would be good to go for Monday. NFL Network’s Kim Jones also reported just after the game that she didn’t believe Diggs’ injury was serious and wouldn’t affect his status moving forward.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White was another guy the Bills were keeping an eye on this week after he suffered a “stinger” during the game last Saturday. White did return during the game and said that he would be good for Monday as long as he kept doing his rehab.
“I’m gonna continue to do the things that my trainers are asking me to do,” White said during his video conference call on Wednesday. “I believe in their game plan, and I feel like they haven’t failed me yet so I’ll be able to play on Monday.”
The Bills also had a few others who were up in the air as tackle Daryl Williams (groin) was listed as limited on Thursday and Friday, even though the Bills didn’t practice on Friday. Tackle Ty Nsekhe did not practice on Thursday or Friday either after suffering a groin injury against the Broncos.
Special teams returner Andre Roberts, who was voted to his third straight Pro Bowl recently, also suffered a back injury against the Broncos and was limited in practice the past two days according to Buffalo’s injury report.
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Bills Playing it by Ear With John Brown
The Bills released wide receiver Jake Kumerow on Saturday, which could be seen as a move to activate wide receiver John Brown from the injured reserve list.
Brown was designated to return to practice last week but didn’t play in their game against the Broncos as McDermott and the Bills staff were giving him an extra week to recover from the knee/ankle injury he suffered in their Week 10 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. McDermott said they were playing it by ear with Brown earlier this week and stuck with that statement on Saturday.
“We’ll see,” McDermott said on Saturday. “We gotta get through practice today and continue to evaluate how John is doing like we did last week.”
Buffalo’s offense has been operating at a high level this season, even without Brown, and when he comes back the Bills could be one of the best offenses heading into the postseason.
Another Record to Break on Monday
Before the Bills released Kumerow on Christmas Eve, the receiver they refer to as “Touchdown Jesus” helped the Bills tie an NFL record.
With Kumerow’s 22-yard touchdown reception against the Denver Broncos, the Bills tied an NFL record for the most amount of players with at least one touchdown reception in the same season. Kumerow was the 13th Bill to catch a touchdown pass this season.
If Andre Roberts, Devin Singletary, or a lineman catches a pass against the Patriots on Monday the Bills could break the record.
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