Christian Benford – Syndication Server

Brandon Beane provides Josh Allen, Christian Benford, Amari Cooper injury updates

It’s not all and well in Buffalo Bills land, but there were some positive updates provided on the health of a few of the team’s top players at least.

General manager Brandon Beane had his end-of-season press conference on Thursday at One Bills Drive. During the slew of questions he answered, injury news was mentioned.

Buffalo’s 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship featured three players getting dinged up: quarterback Josh Allen, cornerback Christian Benford, and wide receiver Amari Cooper.

It was revealed by Allen that he sustained an injury to his right-throwing hand near halftime of the contest. Some speculation has swirled relating to the type of issue, but per Beane, Allen did not break any bones in it.

That update from the GM makes sense as the QB played through the knock in the second half.

As compared to Allen, Benford had a much more serious problem.

Heading into the game, Benford was cleared from a concussion. He sustained another in Kansas City and was forced to leave the contest.

Beane said Benford is still in the concussion protocol, but added he was smiling when he recently saw him and felt that was a good sign of his progress.

Brandon Beane said Josh Allen did not break his hand in the KC game. . . . He also said Christian Benford is “good” but still is in concussion protocol so can’t comment further on his health.

— Mark Gaughan (@gggaughan) January 30, 2025

Meanwhile, Cooper was dealing with an issue that predated the AFC title contest.

Cooper had appeared on injury reports throughout the 2024 season with a wrist injury–after he was acquired via trade.

Cooper evidently had a serious wrist issue because he could have had surgery on it. Instead, he opted to play through it:

Brandon Beane on Amari Cooper trade: “I think you have to look at that from a lot of different angles.”
He starts with Cooper needing time to acclimate with the team and learn the offense.
“Honestly, I think he did a great job learning our offense,” Beane said

— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) January 30, 2025

Bills Wire will continue to provide updates throughout the offseason.

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Bills’ Christian Benford carted off vs. Chiefs during AFC championship

The Bills are down another starting defensive back against the Chiefs in their AFC championship clash.

The Bills entered the contest without starting safety Taylor Rapp (hip).

Now cornerback Christian Benford joins him.

Benford was listed on injury reports all week with a concussion. He was able to play, but that same injury had him removed from the game. Benford was carted off the field because of the issue.

The Bills announced that Benford is out for the remainder of the evening right away.

Kaiir Elam replaced Benford in the lineup.

Bills Wire will provide updates as information is made available.

Injury Update: CB Christian Benford (concussion) is OUT.

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 27, 2025

Will Christian Benford play vs. Chiefs? Injury updates for Bills cornerback

#Bills cornerback Christian Benford is dealing with a concussion. Here are the latest updates.

Veteran defensive back Christian Benford was placed in the NFL concussion protocol after he was injured in the Buffalo Bills’ divisional-round showdown with the Baltimore Ravens last weekend.

Is Benford expected to be back in the action when the Bills face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday?

Christian Benford injury update

Benford is listed on the Bills’ injury report due to a concussion. As such, Benford must comply with the NFL’s concussion protocol. He was a limited participant in Buffalo’s practices on Wednesday and Thursday and was absent on Friday with a personal designation.

How long will Christian Benford be out?

While it is too early to rule out Benford, he must clear the concussion protocol to be allowed on the field again. He should be considered questionable for Sunday’s postseason game with the Chiefs.

Bills CB depth chart

Benford is Buffalo’s starting right cornerback. They only have one backup for that spot projected on their depth chart. Second-stringer Kaiir Elam could be in for the entire matchup if Benford is not ready to play.

Could the Bills be down two defensive backs vs. Chiefs?

The Buffalo Bills could have a few untimely injuries ahead of facing the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game.

Head coach Sean McDermott provided updates on two of his starting defensive backs during his weekly interview on the team’s radio partner, WGR-550.

McDermott has ruled safety Taylor Rapp out and the status of cornerback Christian Benford could be in doubt.

Rapp has been listed on injury reports this week with a hip injury he sustained in Buffalo’s divisional win over the Baltimore Ravens. Since that same game, Benford has been in the concussion protocol.

Benford is set to miss practice on Friday, the final workouts before the Bills head out to Kansas City. However, McDermott said Benford is missing that workout due to personal reasons.

Ahead of facing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, being down two starting defensive backs is not ideal for Buffalo.

The Bills intercepted Mahomes twice in their 30-21 win over Kansas City during the regular season. One of those two came via Rapp on Mahomes’ first pass attempt.

Without Rapp, it’s expected that rookie Cole Bishop will start.

Both teams will release their full final injury reports later on Friday.

Bills Wire will provide updates when that information is made available.

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Bills have a few names to watch on injury report ahead of Chiefs game

Unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills have a few names to watch on their injury report this week ahead of facing the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game.

Before the start of preparations for the contest on Wednesday, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott noted three players that are important to keep in mind throughout the coming days. The trio are all from the defense.

Safety Taylor Rapp (hip) left the Bills’ 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round on Sunday and did not return. It appears that linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Christian Benford were injured during the contest as well, however, the team did not announce in-game updates on them.

On Buffalo’s final injury report ahead of facing Baltimore had both Milano and Benford on it. The difference is that their current injury designations were not the reasons why.

At that time, Milano and Benford were listed as having bicep and back issues, respectively.

Now Milano is dealing with what was described as “hamstring soreness,” according to McDermott.

Meanwhile, Benford is in the concussion protocol.

The coach noted that Milano and Benford would both be limited in practice on Wednesday. Rapp was noted as the only player that would not practice at all.

Bills Wire will provide the latest injury updates from both teams ahead of the Sunday’s AFC title matchup.

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Bills vs. Broncos: 3 key matchups to watch in Wild Card round

Bills vs. Broncos: 3 key matchup to watch in Wild Card round

The Buffalo Bills will host the Denver Broncos at Highmark Stadium in the NFL’s Wild Card round.

For this AFC battle between Sean McDermott’s Bills (13-4) and Sean Payton’s Broncos (10-7), it will be the games, within the game, that will make all the difference.

Here are three key matchups to watch during Sunday’s Bills-Broncos clash:

CB Christian Benford vs. WR Courtland Sutton

Benford has been a quiet stud and many considered him a Pro Bowl snub. The Bills would be smart to put him on Sutton. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix loves him considering Sutton had 1,081 yards this season, double anyone else on Denver’s roster.

NFL Playoff picks: Unlock exclusive data-driven predictions

OL Dion Dawkins vs. ED Nik Bonitto

The Broncos defense thrives on sacks. Bonitto will likely come off the edge on Dawkins’ side. Denver led the NFL with 63 sacks as a team and 13.5 of those were from Bonitto which led the Broncos.

WR Khalil Shakir vs. CB Ja’Quan McMillian

Pro Football Focus grades Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II an 85.6 overall this season, making him their No. 1 corner in the entire NFL. The outside recievers for the Bills will have a tough day with him. That means Shakir will be a great option for quarterback Josh Allen on the inside. Denver’s slot cornerback is McMillan, who PFF only grades as the 78th best cornerback this year out of 116 qualifying players.

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2025 Pro Bowl: Who were the biggest snubs from the Bills?

The Buffalo Bills found names from their locker room included on the AFC roster for the Pro Bowl once again in 2025.

But in expected and unfortunate fashion, despite the Bills (13-3) being one of the best teams in the NFL this season, it felt like we saw more snubs than actual selections.

At the top, Buffalo is represented by quarterback Josh Allen and offensive lineman Dion Dawkins as the pair were the only two selections.

The Bills will hope no one plays in the game, meaning the team advanced all the way to the Super Bowl. It still is a disappointment seeing a few names left off.

Here are three of the Bills’ biggest snubs from the initial 2025 Pro Bowl roster:

RB James Cook

The top of the list for most in this category is Cook. The Bills running back was named to the Pro Bowl last season but missed out this year.

Cook will very likely end the 2024 season under 1,000 rushing yards as he sits on 981 currently and in Buffalo’s season finale he won’t see much, if any, playing time. Even so, he ranks second in rushing DVOA this season trailing only the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry.

CB Christian Benford

Truthfully, Benford being a quiet guy that puts his head down and just gets the job done… might have hurt his chances here. No one would compare him to Richard Sherman in that light.

But Benford has more than performed.

Benford has recorded two interceptions, two forced fumbles and three tackles for loss in 2024. Most impressively, Pro Football Focus metrics have him graded at 82.6 overall so far this year… making Benford their fourth-best corner

DE Greg Rousseau

Rousseau or Ed Oliver would both qualify here, but we’ll go outside the box with Rousseau since he was not even named an alternate for the Pro Bowl. Oliver is a longshot as a fifth alternate, at least.

Rousseau has tied his career-high with eight sacks. Rousseau has also set new benchmarks for career bests in tackles for loss (16), QB hits (24) and forced fumbles (3). PFF also favors him, as his 83.1 grade is the 12th best in the NFL among all edge defenders.

In due time, the NFL will start noticing Rousseau. Naturally, it’s all about sacks as a pass rusher, but Rousseau is a total-package defender.

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Bills’ AJ Epenesa post-Jets win: ‘It just shows that this is what we can do’

The Bills won the second of their two regular-season matchups 40-14 Sunday, bringing the Jets a game closer to landing in their offseason.

The Buffalo defense returned to form following a three-game stretch in which they allowed 1,357 yards, 86 first downs, and 107 points.

“I thought coach (Bobby) Babich and the defensive staff did a great job during the week,” Bills HC Sean McDermott said to the media. “Players played extremely fast, physical. And then when you play physical and you play fast, the ball tends to come out and to find you.”

The Bills held Aaron Rodgers to 112 passing yards. They caused two interceptions by corner Christian Benford and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, as well as a safety by defensive end Greg Rousseau.

“That was awesome,” Bills QB Josh Allen said about the defensive effort. “Playing on short fields, it makes the game a lot easier, I’ll tell you that. Our defense, man, they played lights out today. They had juice, they had energy.”

Defensive tackle Ed Oliver added three tackles, three for a loss, and a sack, and forced a Rodgers fumble that linebacker Matt Milano recovered. Defensive end A.J. Epenesa added four tackles, two for a loss, and a sack that led to a safety. And outside linebacker Von Miller had a sack, two tackles, and a tackle for a loss.

“Yeah, it was dope just for us to go out there and reap the benefits of our hard work, the work that we put in week after week,” said Rousseau who blew up a play for a turnover-on-downs and tipped a pass for the Jordan Phillips interception on another. “To have one of these games, it was great.”

The Bills built a 40-0 lead, shutting out the Jets for the first 53 minutes of the game until the 6:59 mark of the 4th quarter when former Bills QB-turned Jets backup Tyrod Taylor scored twice in relief of Aaron Rodgers.

“I wouldn’t say need … and I don’t want to say reassurance, either,” explained Epenesa about the type of game the defense had. “But it just shows that this is what we can do and this is the standard that needs to be upheld.”

For the Bills to have a chance at winning in the three rounds of the playoffs to make it to and compete in the Super Bowl, their defense will need to keep this type of performance going as just that type of standard game-to-game.

“Sometimes you just need that win to kind of refresh your mind on who you really are,” Oliver said. “Everybody had fun [and] everybody got a piece of the action.”

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Bills vs. Jets: 3 key matchups to watch in Week 17

The Buffalo Bills will host the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium in Week 17.

For this AFC East battle between Sean McDermott’s Bills (12-3) and Jeff Ulbrich’s Jets (4-11), it will be the games, within the game, that will make all the difference.

Here are three key matchups to watch during Sunday’s Bills-Jets contest:

CB Christian Benford vs. WR Garrett Wilson

With Rasul Douglas (knee) back in the lineup, he’ll likely cover Davante Adams for the Bills defense. That leaves Benford against Wilson. The two had a great battle earlier this season in Week 6 and the Jets’ playmaker might have won that with his toe-tapping touchdown.

RB James Cook vs. LB Jamien Sherwood

The rushing attack is a team effort for both the offense and defense. However, these two will lead that area for their respective sides.

Sherwood has filled in for CJ Mosley (neck) for most of the year and has been productive for the Jets. The Bills have leaned on Cook in certain games, especially when the weather is a factor, like they did last week against the New England Patriots.

Can Cook provide a positive running game for the Bills? He did not play in the first matchup between these two rivals because of a knee injury.

WR Khalil Shakir vs. CB Isaiah Oliver

Speaking of the weather, Bills quarterback Josh Allen will want a better showing in Orchard Park than he did against the Pats. His go-to man is usually Shakir out of the slot regardless of Mother Nature.

In his own right, Oliver has had a solid year. Pro Football Focus grades him a positive 68.8 overall mark according to their metrics this season.

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WATCH: Week 15 mini movie of Bills win over Lions

The Buffalo Bills held off a dangerous Detroit Lions team in Week 15 to win, 48-42, in what many considered a “Super Bowl preview”.

Quarterback Josh Allen and the offense continued their red-hot streak by scoring 48 points, their second straight 40-point game and eighth straight 30-point game. Meanwhile, the defense made a few game-altering plays to hold off a Lions offense that ranks first in the NFL.

The Bills improved to 11-3 on the year and currently sit in second place in the AFC.

In a game full of highlight-reel plays, relive the high-scoring showdown with a mini-movie from the Bills’ official YouTube channel:

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