There was good news and bad news on the injury front for the Buffalo Bills on Monday.
First, the bad: Head coach Sean McDermott said both running back Zack Moss and cornerback Taron Johnson are in the NFL’s concussion protocol after they each left Sunday’s disappointing, 9-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now, the good: Defensive tackle Ed Oliver and cornerback Tre’Davious White, each of whom got shaken up during Sunday’s game, escaped serious injury and should be able to practice Wednesday. Even better, McDermott said he’s hopeful both tight end Dawson Knox and rookie right tackle Spencer Brown, each of whom has missed the last two games, will be able to practice Wednesday, the first step in returning to the lineup.
“We have some guys we hope to get back this week and we've got some guys that were a little banged up in the game,” McDermott said. "So we'll just see how it goes."
Read the full story from News Albany Bureau Chief Tom Precious
Here are four more observations from Monday’s news conferences with McDermott, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Allen moves on
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was as down as he’s been after a regular-season loss Sunday afternoon, but Daboll said the 24-hour rule has helped the quarterback put it behind him.
“At this point in time, he's moved on,” Daboll said. “He's down because he puts so much time in it. We all are. A day after a loss, regardless of how you lose, where you lose, who you lose against, again, there's 17 of these. You put a lot of time and effort and energy and preparation and practice into it. When you don't feel like you did your best, whether it's a win or loss, but it stings obviously a lot more when you lose, that should get you if you're a competitor and you care about it the way that he does. You come in, you watch it, win or lose. You be consistent and you move on. That's what you have to do. You can't dwell too much on a good thing and you can't dwell too much on a bad thing. You've got to focus on the thing that's in front of you, which for us is the Jets this week.”
Jags targeted White?
Frazier thought the Jaguars might have been targeting White. The Bills’ No. 1 cornerback took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first quarter that kept a drive alive for the Jaguars. Frazier was asked if he thought that part of Jacksonville’s game plan might have been to try and get under White’s skin.
“We kind of sensed the same thing as you did,” Frazier said. “So, early on, that first series, we kind of brought him over, Tre’Davious of course, and just tried to settle them all down. We could see the direction that this was going – at least that’s the way we saw it. And we wanted to make sure our guys stayed calm and came to play the game and not get caught up in the extracurricular stuff. And for the most part we did pretty good, but there were times we could have done better.”
McDermott nominated
McDermott is the Bills’ Salute To Service Award nominee. The honor, which will be announced at the NFL Honors the night before Super Bowl LVI, goes to an NFL player, coach, staff or alumni who demonstrates commitment to honoring and supporting military and veteran communities.
One of McDermott’s close friends, Tim Brady, is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bills add McCloud
The Bills made an addition to their practice squad. Cornerback Nick McCloud, who was with the team during training camp, was signed after being waived last week by the Cincinnati Bengals. McCloud signed with the Bills as a rookie undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame. He had an interception in the preseason game against the Bears and made nine tackles in three exhibition games. He was released at final cuts and claimed off waivers by the Bengals, appearing in two regular-season games for Cincinnati.
