Buffalo Bills dealing with extensive injury report at OTAs

The Buffalo Bills are dealing with a litany of injuries during OTAs; luckily it’s not the regular season.

For the Buffalo Bills’ final OTA (organized team activity) allowed to watch by local media, head coach Sean McDermott won’t be showing off all of his new players. A significant portion of the roster will be sitting out due to injuries.

Seven players sat out completely:

• WR Zay Jones
• WR Cole Beasley (core)
• DE Eli Harold
• CB E.J. Gaines
• TE Tyler Kroft (foot)
• OT Ty Nsekhe
• TE Jason Croom (hamstring)

Six others were limited:

• DT Ed Oliver (shoulder)
• C Mitch Morse (core)
• C Russell Bodine (shoulder)
• G Quinton Spain (thumb)
• S Rafael Bush
• CB Taron Johnson

McDermott didn’t dive into the details of the injuries, but he noted that TE Kroft’s might be the most significant. The move tight end signed with the Bills in free agency and broke his foot in earlier OTAs. The coach said at the OTA press-conference;

"Overall, other than really Tyler’s [Kroft] situation that we talked about the other week, most of them, at this point, are shorter-term situations"

Kroft’s injury may be long-term, and that’s worrisome, but the rest appears to be the Bills playing it safe. That’s especially true with No. 9 overall pick Oliver. Nonetheless, McDermott noted that missing out on practicing can hurt team chemistry — something he prides himself on.

"Anytime you miss it is serious because we need you out there. There are a number of guys who aren’t practicing. It’s hard to develop the team when you’re not practicing and not available."

However, there is still a long off-season to go, other than Kroft’s broken foot; the Bills should have all of the previously mentioned available for training camp. If the tight end isn’t available, the team has another intriguing option in rookie Dawson Knox. The athletic third-round pick has reportedly been turning heads during OTAs.

At the end of the day, these injuries are frustrating. But, we still have three months to go until football. McDermott and the Bills could agree that they’d rather have this happen in OTAs rather than pre-season or the regular season.