During NFL Week 12, the Buffalo Bills enjoy their bye week, offering an opportunity for some rest and extra advance preparation for their next game following a 30-21 home win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
They topped their AFC rival without several key starters including middle linebacker Matt Milano (bicep tear), wide receiver Keon Coleman (wrist), tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee), offensive lineman Spencer Brown (ankle), and defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (wrist) who were out with injuries.
Next up the team will host the San Francisco 49ers at Highmark Stadium, and fans and media members have been wondering which players might return to the field in that contest.
Milano, who’s missed most of the season so far, has begun to practice again and could see a return to gameplay as early as Week 13. The rookie Coleman as well as second-year pro Kincaid received a positive update by way of ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler in terms of recovery this week.
While he did not definitely say whether the two impact players on offense would be back for the game against the Niners, he did share that neither player’s injury appears to be substantial or long-term.
Buffalo has notably never lost coming out of a bye week under head coach Sean McDermott, a trend they hope will continue and one they hope will extend to the postseason, as they pursue the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed and first-round bye.
He had good news for the Bills and their fans following Sunday’s win over the Chiefs, sharing that the team didn’t have any new additions to the injury report. And there may be more good news on their existing injured players coming soon, though he made a point to manage expectations.
“There’s this pool of players that they’re kind of tiered as to when we expect to get each one of them back,” McDermott said.
“Again this week being kind of a rehab week for the players that are banged up, the message I’m getting from our training room is ‘hey we’ll let you know kind of how this week goes and then what that looks like for next week’ so you know the challenge is not really knowing as we start to game plan a little bit towards the end of this week who’s available, but certainly understand that the trainers need some more time with these guys and you know again it’s kind of like ‘hey who who are they going to hand us on Monday? Are we to get one player? Two players? More? Less what we have? So we just got to kind of take it one day at a time here, big picture coming out of the game without any serious injuries.”
They still have some challenges ahead in the remaining six contests on the regular season schedule, including road games against the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions right after the 49ers matchup.
But with a healthy roster, the Bills could make a push into the postseason and potentially lock up the No. 1 seed, allowing them to get even healthier headed into the playoffs.
