In his second season with the Buffalo Bills, head coach Sean McDermott placed former Washington Huskies star safety Taylor Rapp on injured reserve over the weekend ahead of their matchup with the Carolina Panthers with a knee injury.
Rapp, who suffered the injury early in training camp, has played in six games this season and tallied 17 tackles, but clearly seemed a step behind, and placing the 27-year-old on injured reserve should give him plenty of time to recover as the Bills make a playoff push.
“Medically, they feel like…TRapp’s not in a spot where he can actually play at a level where we can function to do the job,” McDermott said.
“But give TRapp credit, man, he’s gutted it out for the better part of six-plus weeks; having hurt it in training camp when he did was really probably 14 or so days into training camp. So, he’s just a warrior that way and got to a point where (he) just couldn’t do it anymore. So, that’s where we’re at.”
Throughout his NFL career, Rapp has established himself as a reliable tackler, particularly in run defense, which is where the Bills have missed his presence the most. Buffalo has struggled to stop the run this year, allowing 5.5 yards per attempt and 10 touchdowns this season, both the second-worst marks in the league.