Buffalo Bills place Christian Benford on IR; sign Xavier Rhodes from practice squad
The Buffalo Bills have been dealing with injuries throughout the entire season and the secondary has been one part of the roster that has had more than their fair share. It seemed like this group was heading in the right direction heading into Thanksgiving as Tre’Davious White played in his first game since last Thanksgiving and Kaiir Elam returned after missing a few games.
However, that trend didn’t last long and the Bills placed rookie cornerback Christian Benford on injured reserve this weekend. He suffered an oblique injury against the Detroit Lions and on Friday head coach Sean McDermott said that the injury was considered ‘week-to-week’, according to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg.
The injury appears to be a little more serious as the team placed Benford on injured reserve and he will miss at least the next four games. The earliest he could return would be Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Buffalo Bills sign Xavier Rhodes from their practice squad
While Tre’Davious White did return against the Detroit Lions, he only played about 15 snaps and the Bills seem prepared to bring him along slowly from his ACL injury last year. The fact that White is unlikely able to play a full game at this point, the Bills needed a replacement for Christian Benford.
The Bills were able to find that replacement on their practice squad in veteran Xavier Rhodes. He originally signed with the Bills at the end of September but suffered an injury and was placed on the injured reserve.
Rhodes would play in his first game with the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 after the team elevated him from the practice squad. He would play 33% of the snaps in that game and had two total tackles.
A veteran like Xavier Rhodes is going to be a valuable part of this defense as the Bills bring Tre’Davious White along and Rhodes should probably see plenty of snaps over the next few weeks.
