Christian Benford was back on the field Thursday, and that alone gave the Buffalo Bills a little breathing room after Sunday’s mess left the secondary stretched thin.
The Bills are getting ready to travel west for a Monday night matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, and the first practice report offered a few encouraging signs. Benford, dealing with an ankle injury, was limited.
Meanwhile, several others were full participants: Terrel Bernard with a knee issue, Bradley Chubb with a thumb injury, Joe Andreessen with a knee injury, Keon Coleman with an ankle injury, Ray Davis with a hamstring injury, Damar Hamlin with a rib injury, Ar’maj Reed-Adams with an elbow injury, T.J. Sanders with an illness, and Dorian Williams with a hip injury.
One name that didn’t show up on the field during the portion of practice open to the media was Couch. He’s on the practice squad and is not usually listed on the daily injury report, but multiple sources said he was not seen.
Benford’s status is the big one to track this week. Even if he hasn’t been perfect, Buffalo knows what it has in him, and that matters after Sunday’s game forced backup safety Damar Hamlin into the nickel spot when the Bills simply ran out of cornerbacks.
There are other moving parts, too. Buffalo signed A.J.
Woods to the practice squad this week, giving the team another young cornerback option if Benford can’t go. And if Alford is unable to play, Geno Stone could be called up to help a secondary that looked badly scrambled.
On offense, the spotlight stays on DJ Moore. The 29-year-old receiver has a reputation for never missing games, and Joe Brady said Tuesday that if Moore says he can play, he’ll be active. If Moore can’t go, rookie Skyler Bell could be in line to dress on game day.
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Bills Offense Has A Growing Problem Defenses Keep Exploiting
The Bills early-season rhythm on offense has given way to a stretch that has started to look familiar to opponents. Josh Allen has been turning the ball over, and Buffalos passing game has lost some of the easy answers it was finding earlier in the year. Even Dalton Kincaid, who opened the season as one of the more reliable options, has been bottled up the last two games as defenses have tightened their coverage and forced the Bills to look elsewhere.
Joe Bradys message is that the fix has to come from everybody, not just Allen, and that puts the spotlight on a unit that has to clean up its details fast. Buffalo still has the pieces to move the ball, but the recent trend is clear enough for defenses to keep pressing the same pressure points until the Bills show they can answer with more consistency. [Read more 🡒]
Bills New Stadium Is Earning Praise Buffalo Fans Will Love
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Rob Gronkowski was among those offering praise, pointing to the way the venue keeps a genuine football atmosphere while still feeling like a top-tier NFL building. Even with Buffalos harsh winter weather always part of the conversation, the Bills clearly wanted the new place to hold onto some of the old identity, and that balance is getting noticed. The bigger question now is how that design choice will play out once the weather turns and the stadium has to prove it can deliver on both comfort and tradition. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Face A Rams Shift That Could Decide Monday Night
Matthew Stafford has made a habit of looking far less comfortable once the pocket starts closing, which is one of the more relevant details for Buffalo heading into Monday night. The Rams have also pulled back on their 13-personnel looks since Terrance Ferguson went on injured reserve, changing the way they present themselves on offense and putting more of the passing burden on familiar pieces.
Kyren Williams just came off a game in which he was heavily involved as a receiver, another wrinkle Buffalo has to account for if the Rams want to keep Stafford on schedule. On the other side, the Bills will have to sort through a defense leaning on Cover 1 man coverage, with safety Trent McDuffie playing at a high level and Byron Young emerging as the Rams' top outside pass rusher. [Read more 🡒]