Seven Buffalo Bills players were evaluated for injuries during Thursday night’s game against the Houston Texans. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir, left tackle Dion Dawkins, cornerback Christian Benford, and defensive end A.J. Epenesa were all cleared to return after being checked by athletic trainers. Left tackle Spencer Brown was initially cleared but later exited again and did not finish the game. Cornerback Maxwell Hairston and linebacker Terrel Bernard did not return after their respective injuries.
Head coach Sean McDermott addressed the media on Friday to provide updates on the team’s health status following Week 12. Quarterback Josh Allen, who was sacked in the first quarter but played through the game, is expected to recover without issue. “Josh Allen is sore, but we expect him to be fine,” McDermott said.
Regarding Bernard and Brown’s conditions, McDermott stated that Bernard is considered week-to-week while Brown’s status remains uncertain as more information is gathered. “We’ll have to see. Still gathering some information,” he said about Brown. The possibility of either player being placed on Injured Reserve exists: “potentially.” He added, “I just don’t know any more (information), it’s still early… It doesn’t look good for, I’ll say, this week, but we’ll see.”
Hairston is currently in concussion protocol. Epenesa and Benford are both expected to be available moving forward.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring), wide receiver Curtis Samuel (elbow/neck), and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (shoulder) missed Thursday’s game due to injury but are reportedly making progress in their recovery. “They’re all improving, and we’ll see where they go this week. We’ll take it one day at a time,” McDermott explained.
McDermott acknowledged that having seven players examined for injuries in a single game is unusual and highlighted his team’s resilience throughout an injury-plagued season: “It’s kind of been a revolving seat…of who’s going down and who has to step up…So I’m real proud of the team and the way that they’ve been resilient over the course of the season.”
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich praised his unit’s preparedness when called upon: “Like always, our guys are ready to go. They don’t flinch…They know that they’re a play away…that standard doesn’t change.”
On wide receiver Keon Coleman’s situation—who was sidelined for a team meeting infraction before Tampa Bay and then listed as inactive against Houston—McDermott reported improvement in Coleman’s approach since then: “I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen in the small window of time since the Tampa game, and we take it one day at a time.” He emphasized focusing on building winning habits: “If you want to win, you got to have winning habits and that’s important…”
The Bills had a chance late in Thursday’s contest with a 13-play drive aimed at taking the lead; offensive coordinator Joe Brady noted he asked his offense to give maximum effort: “As long as there’s time on the scoreboard, we got a chance…the guys just executed – and we asked them to empty their tank…” Despite falling short of victory, both Brady and McDermott commended their players’ determination.
“Our players wanted it,” McDermott said about postgame reactions from his locker room. However, he identified pass protection as an area needing improvement after Allen was sacked eight times: “We need to be better there…If we want to win or give ourselves a chance to win, we have to be there.”
Brady also discussed how frequent quarterback pressure put Buffalo into difficult situations offensively; he cited several factors contributing—including scheme execution—as reasons for allowing too many hits on Allen.
Looking ahead, McDermott stressed adaptability within games as key for future success given ongoing adversity this season: “I’m real proud of the team in the way that they’ve been resilient over the course of the season,” he concluded.
