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Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and WR Tyrell Shavers
The hits just keep on coming for the Buffalo Bills.
The team got an injury scare after Sunday’s 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars when star quarterback Josh Allen was seen limping around the locker room.
However, it seems the Bills and Allen avoided a worst-case scenario. Though he’s “sore,” Allen, the reigning MVP doesn’t seem to be in jeopardy of missing Saturday’s matchup against the top-seeded Denver Broncos.
But unfortunately for Buffalo, it will be without a few key offensive contributors as the team got some bad injury news on Monday, and followed it up with even more crushing injury news on Tuesday.
Bills’ WR Corps Takes Another Hit
GettyBuffalo Bills WR Tyrell Shavers
The team announced on Monday that wide receiver Gabe Davis had torn his ACL, knocking him out for the rest of the postseason.
Davis, 26, caught 2 passes on 3 targets for 14 yards before exiting the wild-card matchup in the first half.
If that weren’t bad enough, head coach Sean McDermott announced 24 hours later that fellow wide receiver Tyrell Shavers had also torn his ACL and would also miss the rest of the playoffs.
Remarkably, Shavers suffered the injury on a punt return in the second quarter and came back out and finished the game. He didn’t know the severity of his injury until after he was evaluated following the game.
“[Shavers] embodies what we’re all about,” McDermott told reporters. “… For him to then come back into the game, and then for it to turn out to be what it was is remarkable. Remarkable toughness, remarkable commitment to the team.”
With Davis and Shavers both out, and Joshua Palmer on injured reserve, the Bills wide receiver room has taken blow after blow over the last few weeks.
Buffalo heads into Saturday’s matchup against the Broncos with Khalil Shakir, Brandin Cooks, and Keon Coleman plus a few practice squad options in Mecole Hardman, Stephen Gosnell, and Kristian Wilkerson.
“Another guy’s got to step up,” McDermott added. “That’s point-blank what it means. And I don’t mean to be short. It’s just right now, it’s full confidence in the guys in that room, and we brought back Kristian Wilkerson, and he’ll be a good addition back to us on the practice squad, and we go from there.”
There is Some Positive Injury News
While the Bills are down three wide receivers, they could be getting some reinforcements in that department.
Receiver Curtis Samuel practiced with the team on Monday. The 29-year-old hasn’t played since Nov. 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His return could be a big boost for a banged-up Bills wide receiver corps.
In addition to Samuel, Buffalo could also get a boost on defense as well.
Star defensive tackle Ed Oliver also returned to practice on Monday. He missed 14 games after tearing his pectoral against the Carolina Panthers back on Oct. 26.
Before his injury, Oliver was a force on the defensive line. He recorded 12 tackles, 11 pressures, 6 hurries, 5 run stuffs, 3 sacks, 2 QB hits, and a forced fumble, according to Pro Football Focus.
Oliver also finished tied for the third-most tackles for loss (7) on the team despite playing in less than 1/4 of the season.
Michael Gallagher Michael Gallagher is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He has more than a decade of experience working for both local and national news outlets covering the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football, and MMA. His work has been featured in Newsweek, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Athlon Sports, The Hockey News, the Nashville Scene, SB Nation, and Yardbarker. More about Michael Gallagher
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