Buffalo’s Thursday night win over Detroit took a hit late in the second quarter when DJ Moore left the game with a shoulder injury and never returned.
Moore was ruled out after halftime after the Bills initially listed him as questionable to come back. The injury happened while he was trying to haul in a diving catch from Josh Allen in the end zone, a play that sent him straight to the locker room for X-rays.
Allen rolled right and delivered a low throw toward Moore, who left his feet for the ball and landed hard on his left shoulder as a Lions defender came down on top of him. Moore stayed down while Buffalo’s training staff checked on him, and Allen along with Bills coach Joe Brady came onto the field to see how he was doing.
Moore was eventually able to get up and walk off under his own power with trainers before heading directly to the locker room.
Amazon Prime sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung said Moore was being examined with X-rays and reported that the Bills were worried about two possible issues: the shoulder and a stinger.
The sequence came with 3:01 left in the second quarter, but it was wiped out by an offensive holding penalty on tight end Dawson Knox.
Buffalo answered on the next snap anyway. Allen hit Dalton Kincaid for a 16-yard touchdown, and although Tyler Bass missed the extra point, the Bills still pushed the lead to 27-7.
In Other News...
Josh Allen Had Bills Fans Doing A Double Take On The Sideline
The Bills first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium already had the feel of an event, with Buffalo coming in at 1-0 after its win over the Texans and welcoming the Lions to the teams fresh home. But one sideline moment quickly drew attention when Josh Allen was spotted using smelling salts, a sight that sent fans doing a double take during an otherwise high-profile night for the franchise.
Allen later shed a little light on his game-day habits, describing a pregame routine that includes vomiting, listening to music, and drinking water. It is a reminder that even the most accomplished quarterbacks can have rituals that are anything but ordinary, and in Buffalo, every small detail around Allen tends to get magnified when the spotlight is this bright. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen Was Furious Over How Bills Teammates Family Tragedy Went Public
The Bills spent the summer trying to navigate one of the hardest kinds of news an NFL locker room can face, with Ed Oliver mourning the death of his two-year-old son after the child was found unresponsive in a swimming pool near Houston in June. The Harris County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident, found no criminal findings and closed the case in August, while Buffalo publicly offered condolences and tried to keep the focus on support rather than details.
Josh Allen still made clear how upset he was with the way the tragedy became public. Speaking to the media, the Bills quarterback thanked the people who respected the familys privacy and criticized those who leaked the information before the family had a chance to process it. For a team that has had to rally around Oliver, the episode served as another reminder of how quickly personal grief can spill into the spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Make A Game Day Choice That Says Plenty Vs Lions
The Bills made a pair of Week 2 roster moves ahead of their matchup with the Lions, elevating wide receiver Greg Dortch and running back Frank Gore Jr. from the practice squad to the active roster. Both players have been around the NFL long enough to understand what these Saturday elevations usually mean, and Buffalo is choosing to give itself a little more flexibility on game day against a Detroit team that tends to demand it.
Dortch has bounced around the league and already saw action in 12 games this year, giving Buffalo an extra pass-catching option if it needs one. Gore, an undrafted free agent who has spent time on the Bills' practice squad and later signed a futures deal, remains part of the teams longer-term picture, but this move also puts him in position for a bigger immediate role if the backfield depth chart calls for it. [Read more 🡒]
