Injured Bills coming back?

[billsfan89]

My hope is Jones comes back for the Pats game so that he can “knock off” the rust in some rotational snaps and then hopefully be close to 100% against the Fins.

 

AJE and Hyde would also be big returns to the defense hopefully they can get them running by the Fins game. 
 

Ty Johnson would also be a good addition for the offense to get him back by the Pats game.
 

Shorter is maybe a Special Teams add but I don’t think he is consequential. Phillips we all know is out until the playoffs. Elam I hope will come back as depth but it is not that dramatically consequential. Harris is also inconsequential as he has been replaced by Johnson and Fournette. 
 

Overall considering where this team was injury wise it isn’t in terrible shape. Just have to get a few key players back and rolling.

[Reks Ryan]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

Elam ain’t coming back. 
 

They stashed him on IR and replaced him with Norman.

Norman is currently on the practice squad. Not on the 53 man roster

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

Elam ain’t coming back. 
 

They stashed him on IR and replaced him with Norman.

Didn't they open his 21 day window about 3 weeks ago? 

They're going to have to do something. If they don't activate him, he will be gone for the season.

[FireChans]

2 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Didn't they open his 21 day window about 3 weeks ago? 

They're going to have to do something. If they don't activate him, he will be gone for the season.

Yes and it’s been crickets

12 minutes ago, Reks Ryan said:

Norman is currently on the practice squad. Not on the 53 man roster

They can, and have, elevated Norman on game days.

[jlgarsh]

2 hours ago, NeverOutNick said:

Glad we will have Jones back. That is great news and even though Hyde has lost a step we need him in there over Rapp. Rapp is a tackling machine but awful in coverage. Shorter is a body catcher and won’t help Josh at all but maybe special teams he could be valuable. Hopefully Elam is healthy now and can be used in case of emergency because he did show some promise at the end of last year 

This might be a hot take, but I think Damar is better at coverage than Rapp

[That's No Moon]

2 minutes ago, jlgarsh said:

This might be a hot take, but I think Damar is better at coverage than Rapp

[jlgarsh]

Just now, That's No Moon said:

Rapp is ranked 93/94 safeties in coverage by PFF. No Way Damar was worse than that last year

[ColoradoBills]

5 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

They can, and have, elevated Norman on game days.

 

I just looked up the current Bills PS players elevation stats.

 

Norman - 3 times.  Next time he has to be signed to the 53.

Isabella - 2 times.

Ingram - 1 time.

Fournette - 1 time.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/transactions/_/name/buf/buffalo-bills

[NeverOutNick]

Just now, jlgarsh said:

This might be a hot take, but I think Damar is better at coverage than Rapp

They both are trash in coverage. Safety is definitely a draft need next year unless they’re planning on converting Tre or someone to that role. That Hamilton kid for Baltimore was amazing.

 

My big draft needs would be best WR first round, safety and OT second/third round (replace Brown) get that Michigan kid Corum in the 4th round if he falls that far…hopefully we can resign Jones and Epenesa to team friendly deals as well

[That's No Moon]

2 minutes ago, jlgarsh said:

Rapp is ranked 93/94 safeties in coverage by PFF. No Way Damar was worse than that last year

Rewatch the December Miami game.

[jlgarsh]

Just now, NeverOutNick said:

They both are trash in coverage. Safety is definitely a draft need next year unless they’re planning on converting Tre or someone to that role. That Hamilton kid for Baltimore was amazing.

 

My big draft needs would be best WR first round, safety and OT second/third round (replace Brown) get that Michigan kid Corum in the 4th round if he falls that far…hopefully we can resign Jones and Epenesa to team friendly deals as well

https://www.cover1.net/buffalo-bills-damar-hamlin-2022-impact/

 

Damar was rated a top 50 safety last year. Rapp is 93rd. I'm not saying he's a Pro Bowler, but he's better than Rapp. I don't buy the "he'd be active if he was better" line either. We saw Poona Ford get an opportunity and he played better than some of the other DTs have all season. Kingsley Jonathan played better than Von too.

[Einstein]

4 minutes ago, jlgarsh said:

This might be a hot take, but I think Damar is better at coverage than Rapp

 

Damar is better at coverage than Rapp. Without a doubt, in my opinion.

 

But Rapp is wayyyy better at tackling and aggressiveness. 

The number of times Damar missed a tackle in the hole last year was enough to make me not want him on the team anymore. He was so so so bad on many of the angles.

Here are a few reminders:
 

 

[jlgarsh]

1 minute ago, Einstein said:

 

Damar is better at coverage than Rapp. Without a doubt, in my opinion.

 

But Rapp is wayyyy better at tackling and aggressiveness. 

The number of times Damar missed a tackle in the hole last year was enough to make me not want him on the team anymore. He was so so so bad on many of the angles.

Here are a few reminders:
 

 

I have no disagreement with this. For being thrown into action without prior starting experience,  I was happy with how he played last year. Rapp started for the arms for a few seasons before getting here. Maybe I graded on a curve. Definitely agree with you that Rapp is a better tackler.

[Reks Ryan]

16 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Yes and it’s been crickets

They can, and have, elevated Norman on game days.

True, but my point is that at this juncture in the season Norman's spot doesn't have anything to do with whether or not Elam gets activated.   Elam won't go to the practice squad, he'll either be activated to the 53 or placed on season ending IR.    If the team / Hyde determine that the risk is too great for Hyde to play, then they IR Hyde, and Elam would be an option for that spot.  

 

If injuries create a situation where Norman gets elevated for the Dolphins game (assuming it's for the division) or a play off game, we're in trouble.   I would much rather Elam play, or Hyde comes back and Lewis returns to his role as backup. 

[FireChans]

29 minutes ago, NeverOutNick said:

They both are trash in coverage. Safety is definitely a draft need next year unless they’re planning on converting Tre or someone to that role. That Hamilton kid for Baltimore was amazing.

 

My big draft needs would be best WR first round, safety and OT second/third round (replace Brown) get that Michigan kid Corum in the 4th round if he falls that far…hopefully we can resign Jones and Epenesa to team friendly deals as well

Brown has been pretty good this year. I think OT is still on the agenda, but it may be to replace Dawkins rather than Brown.

14 minutes ago, Reks Ryan said:

True, but my point is that at this juncture in the season Norman's spot doesn't have anything to do with whether or not Elam gets activated.   Elam won't go to the practice squad, he'll either be activated to the 53 or placed on season ending IR.    If the team / Hyde determine that the risk is too great for Hyde to play, then they IR Hyde, and Elam would be an option for that spot.  

 

If injuries create a situation where Norman gets elevated for the Dolphins game (assuming it's for the division) or a play off game, we're in trouble.   I would much rather Elam play, or Hyde comes back and Lewis returns to his role as backup. 

I’m not sure the coaching staff would rather have Elam over Norman, and as the other poster stated, Norman’s next elevation comes with a spot on the 53.

[NeverOutNick]

33 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Brown has been pretty good this year. I think OT is still on the agenda, but it may be to replace Dawkins rather than Brown.

 

Brown is still the worst o lineman of our starting 5 but that’s a good point on finding a replacement for Dawkins as he gets older and more expensive too. I think they are hopeful that Van Denmark is the guy for LT too

[Kaenon]

1 hour ago, BigBadBills said:

he is not a very smart football player.

What do you mean?

He's always using his head on every play I see him in.

😉

[Matt_In_NH]

When Harris went down, McDermott said things that made it sound like he was done...I remember something like he wanted to "respect  his situation".  There was also a rumor he was considering retirement.  THe play he was injured did not seem that out of the ordinary but something bad happened.

[Bockeye]

Thanks for the of appreciation. Thought it might be nice to have a central thread for all the injuries as we head into the critical portion of the season. 
 

We may just have a lot of pieces coming back at the right time. 
 

If we can get Jones and Epenesa back for Miami, they would be HUGE!

[MikePJ76]

Sal broke it all down earlier today

 

Kaiir Elam’s 21-day practice window closes today. The Bills will have until 4 PM ET tomorrow/Wednesday to activate him to the 53-man roster or have him stay on IR for the remainder of the season. They could activate him, then release him with the intent of re-signing him to the PS, but it’s highly unlikely he would pass through waivers unclaimed. So I doubt that’s the play. DT DaQuan Jones also appears set to return soon. They actually have until January 9 to activate him, but if he’s healthy enough and the team wants him available this weekend vs. Patriots, they’d have to do it this week. In that scenario, if they activated both Elam and Jones, they would have to make room on the roster for one player, either via release or IR. Or just wait another week on Jones and see what happens. The team also has until January 3 to activate WR Justin shorter from IR or he will stay there for the remainder of the season. DT Jordan Phillips remains on IR and must miss three more games, including the first round of the playoffs, should the Bills make it. As far as practice squad elevations, RB Leonard Fournette still has two remaining with only two regular season games left. They can elevate him for both vs. Patriots and at Dolphins with no issues. In the postseason, players can be elevated an unlimited number of times, but each team can still elevate a maximum of only two players per week.

Edited December 26, 2023 by MikePJ76