Buffalo Bills investigated by NFL due to Jerry Hughes’ injury

ORCHARD PARK, NY - DECEMBER 09: Shaq Lawson #90, Jerry Hughes #55 and Jordan Phillips #97 of the Buffalo Bills walk out of the tunnel before the game against the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 9, 2018 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY - DECEMBER 09: Shaq Lawson #90, Jerry Hughes #55 and Jordan Phillips #97 of the Buffalo Bills walk out of the tunnel before the game against the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 9, 2018 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The news from Jerry Hughes on Twitter after the Buffalo Bills season about a wrist injury has piqued the interest of the NFL.

After the Buffalo Bills loss to the Houston Texans, Jerry Hughes tweeted out that he had been playing with torn ligaments in his wrist. This was possibly a contributing factor to the down season Hughes had in terms of sacks, with only 4.5 sacks during the regular season

It is certainly commendable that Hughes was trying his best to help the Bills win while obviously fighting through what was likely a painful injury. Defensive ends are constantly using their hands while trying to beat the offensive linemen in front of him.

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However, this news has raised some concerns from the NFL and they have opened an investigation into whether or not the Bills violates rules by not noting the injury on their weekly injury report, according to Buffalo News.

The issue for the NFL, and why they are investigating, is that Hughes was not listed on any injury report all season for a wrist injury. The only times Hughes appeared on the injury report was Week 11 and Week 12 due to a groin injury that forced him to miss three practices and limited for another over the two weeks.

Hughes is the longest tenured player on the Buffalo Bills but only had 23 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. However, the veteran pass rusher had his best performance of the season in the playoff game against the Houston Texans, when he had three of the team’s seven sacks.

In the past when teams were found to have violated this rule, they have been fined with the Oakland Raiders fined $20,000 in 2018 and more recently the Detroit Lions fined $75,000 for their reporting of Matthew Stafford’s injury in December.

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