Buffalo hasn’t ruled anyone out yet, but six defensive players are listed as questionable.
It’s just one day until the Buffalo Bills play the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium, but there are still so many unanswered questions about active rosters for both teams. Between the two, 12 players are listed as questionable for Sunday’s AFC East division matchup.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s injury designations for both the Bills and the Patriots.
Friday injury report pic.twitter.com/C5IwNazDQg
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) December 20, 2024
For the Bills, everyone practiced. However, the seven players who have been limited all week continued in the same capacity and then were listed as questionable for game day. Though we don’t know what the Bills’ training staff needs to see from these players in order to declare them ready to play, there are some factors that we can assume they will be considering.
- CB Rasul Douglas (knee)
- S Damar Hamlin (rib)
- LB Matt Milano (groin)
- S Taylor Rapp (neck)
- WR Curtis Samuel (rib)
- LB Baylon Spector (calf)
- LB Dorian Williams (elbow)
Linebacker Baylon Spector is dealing with a repeat calf injury. On Friday, head coach Sean McDermott — who usually stays fairly tight-lipped about his players’ health — said that the injury was a re-aggravation of the one that had Spector on Injured Reserve for six weeks. McDermott also told us that the re-injury occurred during Thursday’s practice. It’s reasonable to think that the Bills will be looking closely at whether or not Spector was actually ready to play last week, and if playing now will end his season.
Another factor for Spector, as well as for fellow linebacker Matt Milano and safety Taylor Rapp, is going to be the temperature. Sunday’s high in Orchard Park, NY is predicted to be in the teens. That’s not great news for players needing to keep injured muscles loose.
Spector, Milano, and Rapp are all dealing with muscle related injuries rather than joints or bones. The chances of the weather causing their muscles to stay tight are pretty high, so while the trio is questionable for Sunday, there could be more than just how they feel when they wake up that plays into Buffalo’s decision on whether they play or sit.
If Spector can’t play and Milano needs to rest, Williams’ elbow will hopefully hold up enough. He did make it back into the end of the Bills’ Week 15 win over the Detroit Lions when the team’s linebacker group needed help after Milano went down, so hopefully he will be active this week as well.
As for the New England Patriots, not only did they list five players as questionable for Sunday, they also ruled out both running back JaMycal Hasty and cornerback Marcus Jones.
Patriots Friday injury report and #NEvsBUF game statuses: https://t.co/8yZhQ9yWys pic.twitter.com/1dRGcTjgvr
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 20, 2024
New England has listed three defensive players and two offensive linemen as questionable. Offensive tackle Caedan Wallace has been dealing with an ankle injury all week, and guard Cole Strange has had a knee injury. On defense, safety Kyle Dugger battled both an ankle injury and an unspecified illness.
However, on Friday, the Patriots had two new injuries added to their report, and both of them resulted in questionable designations for Sunday. Safety Jabrill Peppers is now dealing with a hamstring injury and defensive end Keion White has a groin injury. Like Spector and Milano for Buffalo, these injuries could prove troublesome with the cold weather expected at Highmark Stadium.
Teams have until 90 minutes before kickoff, so 2:55 p.m. EST on Sunday for the Bills and Patriots this week, to declare their game-day inactives. It is very likely that we will not know the status of at least half of these players until that time.