Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills Injury Report: Bills Plans Amid Injuries
Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills means the healthy Broncos face the hurting Bills. A look at how the Bills plan to fill in for injuries.
Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round is all set to kick off. With 24 hours until that kickoff, let's look at both teams' injury report and what each squad plans to do to fill in for their injured comrades.
Denver Broncos injury report
- LB Dre Greenlaw, hamstring, Questionable but expected to play
- DL John Frankin-Myers, hip , Questionalbe but expected to play
- TE Lukas Krull, foot , OUT
- LB Drew Sanders, ankle, OUT
Denver's key injuries
- S Brandon Jones is on IR and Sean Payton said he doesn't expect him back this year.
- RB J.K. Dobbins has been on the IR with an injured foot and could return next week for the AFC Championship Game if the Broncos make it.
- C Luke Wattenberg has been on the IR with a shoulder and could also return next week if Denver beats the Bills.
Overall, the Broncos are incredibly healthy for this time of year. They've had some of the best injury luck of any NFL team, in fact.
Greenlaw hasn't played since the Jacksonville game, and while he's only started 8 games this year, he's been a playmaker when he's in. Greenlaw should help the Broncos slow down that vaunted rushing attack from Buffalo.
John Franklin-Myers set a career-high with 7.5 sacks this year and has been strong against the run, too. According to Pro Football Focus, he's 25th among 134 interior defensive linemen with a 65.4 run defense. grade.
At safety, P.J. Locke will be making the start for Brandon Jones. Locke has started the last three games for the Broncos and has totaled 10 tackles, one TFL, and one pass defended. He needs to be his best on Saturday and was burned for a touchdown in last year's Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills playoff game.
RJ Harvey has been filling in for J.K. Dobbins at running back and doing a great job. According to Mina Kimes on the Dominique Foxworth show, the Broncos run game has been 3rd in success rate since Week 10. Not including Bo Nix runs. Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin need to run well against a terrible Bills rushing attack this week.
Oh, and Bo Nix needs to run well, too.
Rich Kurtzman
Finally, Alex Forsyth has been filling in for Luke Wattenberg the last two games, and he's been holding his own.
Buffalo Bills injury report
- S Jordan Poyer, hamstring, OUT
- CB Maxwell Hariston, OUT
- LB Terrel Bernard, Questionable
- S Damar Hamlin, IR
- RB Ty Johnson, Questionable
- DT Ed Oliver, Questionable
- WR Curtis Samuel, Questionable
Buffalo's key injuries
- WR Gabe Davis on IR with a torn ACL sustained against the Jaguars in the Wild Card round.
- WR Joshua Palmer is on the IR with an ankle injury.
- DT Jordan Phillips is on the IR.
- K Tyler Bass is on the IR.
Buffalo Bills Plans to Fill in for Injuries
As far as anyone can tell, all the Bills listed as "Questionable" will play tomorrow. Let's look at what they plan to do where they're hurting most.
Safety
Damar Hamlin was not activated off Injured Reserve as he was expected to be, so he won't be playing instead of Jordan Poyer, who's out. Hamlin remaining on IR is another huge win for the Broncos.
Earlier in the year, Cam Lewis filled in for Poyer, and it seems likely he will again on Saturday. Rookie Jordan Hancock struggled when he played.
Wide receiver
Buffalo lost 3 wide receivers over the last week. That was half of their receiver room. The names include Joshua Palmer, Gabe Davis—who was a starter—and backup Tyrell Shavers, who was a great blocker in the screen game and played on special teams.
That leaves Khalil Shakir, veteran Brandin Cooks, and often disappointing Keon Coleman as the team's starters. They also decided to activate Curtis Samuel off the IR, so expect him to get some playing time. He's been dealing with an elbow injury this year. The Bills will also activate practice squad receivers Kristian Wilkerson and Mecole Hardman.
Defensive tackle
Bills fans are stoked to see Ed Oliver will likely play. He's a beast in the middle of their defensive line, but he hasn't played since late October. And, he only played three games this year with a torn biceps and knee injury.
Expect Oliver to be on a "pitch count" against the Broncos. Backup center Alex Forsyth will have his hands full when Oliver is out there, and Denver has to hope to eliminate his presence in the backfield.
Kicker
Tyler Bass is the Bills starting kicker, but he's been on IR with a quad injury since the start of the season. In stepped Matt Prater, who Broncos fans likely remember from his 7 years in the Mile High City.
Prater has been mostly great for Buffalo this season. He's gone 18-20 on field goals, and 46-49 on extra points.
With a game that's supposed to be as close as this one is, it's possible Prater could determine the outcome.
Imagine him missing an extra point and Denver winning.
Kick returner
Ty Johnson is the Bills kick returner and was injured on a kickoff that he fumbled vs. Jacksonville. He's expected to play, at backup running back to Cook, too. If he can't go, it's another blow to the Bills.
Rich Kurtzman
Denver Broncos (14-3) vs. Buffalo Bills (13-5) kicks off at 2:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2:30 p.m. MT.
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