Dion Dawkins, Von Miller miss Tuesday practice with injuries

Nov 29, 2022 - 5:15 PM

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott met with members of the media again on Tuesday morning before heading into his team’s mid-week practice, and the news he had was a fresh breath of positivity for Bills fans.

McDermott relayed what might have been his smallest injury list of the season, with only three players, excluding the usual Veteran Rest days, not practicing on Tuesday as his team prepares to meet the division rival New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football.

Here’s a look at the Bills injury trends this week.

Bills injuries trending up

• QB Josh Allen (elbow)
• C Mitch Morse (ankle)
• DE Greg Rousseau (ankle)
• DE A.J. Epenesa (ankle)
• DT Jordan Phillips (eye)
• LB Tremaine Edmunds (groin)

Allen has been a full participant in practice for the first time since he injured the elbow on his throwing arm earlier this month in a loss to the New York Jets. More participation is a good sign that the quarterback is working his way back to full strength—something that the Bills’ offense desperately needs, as they didn’t look like they were running on all cylinders in November.

McDermott said that both Rousseau and Epenesa were heading in the right direction, and that today’s practice would give him more information on whether that progress will be enough to get them ready for Thursday’s AFC East showdown.

Morse has become a non-mention in most of McDermott’s press conferences, which is a good thing. With the center not being a topic of discussion, it would seem that he is one of the few who have been able to come back from an ankle injury sooner rather than later this season, having just missed the Thanksgiving Day game with the injury he suffered at some point five days prior in Buffalo’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

Bills injuries trending down

• OT Dion Dawkins (ankle)
• DE Von Miller (knee)

Both Miller and Dawkins were injured in Buffalo’s Thanksgiving Day win over the Detroit Lions. Miller suffered a knee injury, and earlier this week, McDermott ruled him out for this week’s game as the 33-year-old veteran takes an assessment of how he feels and whether he can play through the injury, or if he needs to seek more medical attention after this week.

As for Dawkins, the starting left tackle is dealing with an ankle injury. Buffalo has had a series of ankle issues this season, with players returning after three weeks of rest, on average. We will have to just wait and see where this ankle injury falls. Regardless of whether Dawkins will return sooner or later than this season’s average, it is increasingly unlikely that we will see him on the field at Gillette Stadium in two days.

Bills illness update

With an illness that seemed to invade the locker room over the past couple of weeks, only one player—backup tight end Quintin Morris—is still listed as out due to being sick. Of the nine players who were listed as sick at some point since the Bills left the Motor City with a win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day, the other eight appear to have recovered quickly as they are all back to practice.

We’ll update later today with a look at how the New England Patriots’ injury trends are looking once that information becomes available.