The Buffalo Bills have once again navigated the dark waters of the injury wave to begin this season. Despite being down multiple key players on the defensive side of the ball for mostly every game this season, they have a 5-2 record. While they have finally started to get healthier in the midst of their current two-week win streak, they just got dealt another blow. Third-round rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter was ruled out ahead of the team's game against the Seahawks with a wrist injury and is likely going to miss more time than that.
Bills' head coach Sean McDermott appeared on his weekly Friday morning slot on WGR radio and said that carter's wrist injury is going to require surgery. On top of that, he's expected to miss multiple weeks, however, the Bills' head coach did not commit to placing Carter on the injured reserve list. During the media viewing portion of practice on Friday, Carter was present in uniform, which is odd after the comments from McDermott.
Regardless if he goes on injured reserve or not, the Bills seem set to be without Carter for the next few weeks. The rookie has really come on strong over the last few games and did a fantastic job filling in for veteran Ed Oliver. It was evident that he was growing each week and adjusting the NFL level and the Bills' defense. While is often the case with defensive tackles, the stats aren't eye popping but the presence and film are.
Over the last four games, including two which he started, Carter has notched nine tackles, four tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a batted pass, five pressures, and 3 run-stuffs. Carter has consistently found himself in the back field either blowing up run plays or contributing to them being blown up in a big way. He's also been a key factor in keeping linebacker's Terrel Bernard (also out against the Seahawks) and Dorian Williams clean, and they've been on fire. With the Bills heavy rotation along the defensive line, Carter is a bigger loss than most might think.
Carter has showed up in numerous key plays for the defense over the last few weeks, including a few big run stuffs on third and shorts and fourth and shorts. The Bills face the Seahawks, Dolphins, Colts, and Chiefs over the next four weeks. All have dynamic running backs and Carter could be out for all of them.