Tag: bills rams

Bills vs. Rams: Wednesday injury reports

Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams injury report for both teams ahead of Week 3.

Here are the first injury reports for the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams from Wednesday ahead of their Week 3 meeting at Bills Stadium:

Los Angeles Rams (2-0)

Did not practice

RB Cam Akers (ribs)

RB Malcolm Brown (finger)

OL Joe Notebroom (calf)

DB Darious Williams (ankle)

Limited

N/A

Full practice

N/A

Notes:

Akers & Brown were both injured in Week 2, without that pair, the Rams would see significant carries go to Darrell Henderson.

Buffalo Bills (2-0)

Did not practice

  • CB Taron Johnson (groin)
  • TE Dawson Knox (concussion)
  • RB Zack Moss (toe)
  • DT Ed Oliver (knee)
  • LB Del’Shawn Phillips (quad)

Limited

  • LB Tremaine Edmunds (shoulder)
  • QB Jake Fromm (quarantine)
  • LB Matt Milano (limited)
  • CB Tre’Davious White (shoulder)

Full practice

  • N/A

Notes:

Phillips, Milano, and Edmunds all missed Week 2 vs. the Dolphins while the rest are new additions to the list. … Oliver played through his injured vs. the Dolphins while Knox started the game but left. … Edmunds was limited last week but did not play while Milano did not practice last week. Per snap counts, White did play less snaps than Levi Wallace, indicating he left the game early in Week 2.

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A classic Sean McDermott reasoning for liking Aaron Donald

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott is a football guy through and through. There’s many traits he sees in particular football players that cause fall in love with their game. Effort, selflessness, worth ethic are among those, but what’s the one thing McDermott loves above all else?

Wrestlers.

McDermott, a former wrestler himself (naturally) has seen that same experience in some of his own players, such as Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips. While a solid pro, Phillips is no Aaron Donald. No one is.

The Los Angeles Rams defender is one of the NFL’s premier stars, but is a smaller-sized guy for his position, who has still racked up four double-digit sack seasons in his career. So as Donald and the Rams (2-0) head to Buffalo in Week 3, what’s the one thing McDermott loves about Donald’s game. You guessed it…

“I think it’s really one line… he was a wrestler,” McDermott said via video conference on Wednesday. “That really speaks for itself, everything that goes into wrestling, man. When I watched him warmup in the Super Bowl, I watched him on TV and he’s warming up like a wrestler. If my research is right or my information is right, he was a wrestler and he was a good one. That background serves people well.”

Perhaps that wresting background truly does help Donald stand above the rest? Because he certainly does, and even if Buffalo’s coach did a little jokingly mention Donald’s background as a wrestler first, the Bills know they have to game plan for his talents this weekend.

“Definitely. You can’t just have a blind eye towards one of, if not the best player in the NFL,” McDermott said.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen provided almost the same context from a player perspective as well on Wednesday.

“He’s the best in the world at what he does,” Allen said.

And certainly Allen means wrestler or not. Whatever extra gear Donald has in him, the Bills have to go above and beyond to deal with it.

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Who the Bills protected on their practice squad for Week 3

The Buffalo Bills announced their four protected practice squad players ahead of Week 3.

The Bills announced their Week 3 players the team has placed on the protected portion of their practice squad via the NFL’s transaction wire on Tuesday.

Those four players are:

  • OL Jordan Devey
  • CB Dane Jackson
  • DT Justin Zimmer
  • OL Jonotthan Harrison

Harrison is the lone change from their Week 2 protected players. Here’s who the Bills have protected over the course of their first two games, respectively:

  • OL Jordan Devey
  • CB Dane Jackson
  • LB Andre Swift
  • DT Justin Zimmer

Week 1’s list:

  • OL Evan Boehm
  • DT Justin Zimmer
  • CB Dane Jackson
  • CB Cam Lewis

The change from Smith to Harrison comes in part to Harrison not signing with the Bills until late last week. However, that could potentially indicate that one or both starting linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, might have seen their health improve after missing Week 2 vs. the Dolphins. Those two are battling shoulder and hamstring issues, respectively.

In terms of Jackson, Josh Norman will spend at least one more week on the team’s injured reserve list due to his hamstring issue, so it comes as no surprise that the rookie cornerback is once again protected.

A notable non-placement is no tight end being protected. Against the Dolphins, Dawson Knox left the game early due to a concussion. But the Bills do already have depth in that position via Lee Smith, who was inactive last week and could play against the Rams in Week 3. Jason Croom was also released from the team’s practice squad earlier on Tuesday.

Zimmer remaining on the protected area comes as little surprise as he actually saw playing time when he was called up to Buffalo’s active roster Week 1. Defensive tackle Vernon Butler was able to play in Week 2 though, so Zimmer was not called up a week ago.

Here’s our previous explanation on the “protected” practice squad situation, a new addition to the NFL this season, from our Week 1 coverage:

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States, the NFL’s owners and players came to an offseason agreement that we’ve seen the first installment of on Tuesday evening. Each team in the league can “protect” four players on their practice squad each week.

The idea is to provide some extra depth for teams in case of a COVID-19 outbreak in a locker room late in the week prior to a Sunday or Monday game. Those four can be called up to the active roster up until Sunday morning prior to kickoff every week.

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How safety protocol impacts the Rams ahead of trip to Bills

Buffalo Bills’ Week 3 opponents, the Los Angeles Rams, have new safety precautions in place affecting their pre-game travel schedule.

The ongoing coronavius pandemic in the United States has taken its toll on several aspects of the 2020 NFL season, and has done so for the past several months. Most recently, stadiums are not filling up with fans yet, and now the Bills’ upcoming opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, have run into a new issue with their travel plans ahead of their trip to Orchard Park in Week 3. 

Prior to the NFL’s schedule release each year, teams can make a request to have cross-country games on back-to-back weeks. In the case of the Rams, they requested that the league’s schedule-makers put the Eagles and Bills next to each other on their schedule. That happened, as the Rams beat the Eagles last week in Philadelphia and have Buffalo up next. 

The idea gives teams the option to avoid long trips. Instead of going back to Los Angeles, the Rams hoped to just travel right to Buffalo. 

But thanks to Covid-19, that’s not happening. 

The NFL introduced numerous safety protocols to avoid the spread of the virus, and among those involve team travel. The Rams technically could still travel right to Buffalo, but the players and team staff, by rule, could only go to the practice field and their hotel rooms, according to Rams Wire. 

And so the Rams called an audible on their travel. The Rams have since headed back to L.A. and will return to Buffalo later this week to face the Bills. 

More miles, but, safety first. 

Last week ahead of the Bills’ first trip away from Buffalo, defensive back Jordan Poyer described the safety protocols the team was going through via their trip to Miami to face the Dolphins. Poyer said once the team lands, you’re essentially in a “bubble” until you head home. 

Plane lands. Players stay in a hotel. Go play the game. Straight to the airport to go directly home to avoid crossing paths with any outsiders. 

Later on this season, the Bills themselves will have trips out west with games in Arizona, Denver, San Francisco, and their next road game, their first ever trip to Las Vegas. However, the Bills were actually the only team in the AFC East to not make this special request to schedulers earlier this offseason.

So it’ll still be as usual, or planned, for the Bills… or as much as it can be during the roller coaster that 2020 is. 

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Bills won’t have fans for at least their first two home games

The Buffalo Bills announced the team will not have fans at their first two home games in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Perhaps Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott had some insight into the announcement we got from the team on Tuesday when he got a little candid a day prior.

On Monday, McDermott was none-too-happy when the Miami Dolphins announced it would sell 13,000 tickets to their home opener in Week 2 against the Bills. McDermott said it was “ridiculous” that some teams will have fans while others will not. About 24 hours later, the Bills have responded with an update in regard to their own fan situation at home games: There won’t be any for at least the first two games of the season.

The Bills, referencing work being conducted with New York State, released this statement on Tuesday:

“We hope you and your family and friends are staying safe and healthy.

In June New York State issued COVID-19 guidance to allow professional sports to be played without spectators. After much discussion and collaboration with the State and Erie County, those guidelines will remain unchanged for at least our first two home games in 2020.

We fully support New York State’s efforts to keep New Yorkers safe and will continue working together, along with the NFL, to establish policies and procedures that hopefully permit fans later this season.

We appreciate your patience and continued support of the Bills. We are working hard to be ready when we can welcome you back to Bills Stadium.

Go Bills!”

Buffalo’s first two games at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park sandwich that Dolphins game. On Sept. 13, the Bills open the regular season, hosting the Jets. After heading to South Beach for the Miami meeting, the Bills host the Rams in Week 3 on Sept. 27, so essentially the guidelines issued in June will remain until the end of September.

From there, the Bills won’t play at home again until Week 6, which is the team’s first primetime game of the season on Thursday Night Football against the Chiefs, on Oct. 15.

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