Sean McDermott provides injury updates on key Bills players
The Buffalo Bills are cooking right now and they received a big boost on Tuesday when head coach Sean McDermott said the team is opening up defensive lineman DaQuan Jones' 21-day practice window.Jones was playing like one of the league's best interior defensive linemen before he went down with a pec injury back in Week […]
The Buffalo Bills are cooking right now and they received a big boost on Tuesday when head coach Sean McDermott said the team is opening up defensive lineman DaQuan Jones' 21-day practice window.
Jones was playing like one of the league's best interior defensive linemen before he went down with a pec injury back in Week 5. The announcement means Jones can return to practice.
But, it doesn't mean Jones is cleared to play, just yet. And unfortunately for Bills Mafia, McDermott doesn't expect him to play in Week 16 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"DaQuan Jones' window will open today," McDermott told reporters. "I don't expect him to play, at this point, but it's good to have him back [and] starting to work, out there."
It's quite the tease, but either way, Jones is on track to return by the time the Bills are potentially ready to start the postseason. Buffalo is currently sitting at No. 9 in the AFC, but has a 71% chance of making the playoffs, per the New York Times' playoff machine.
Jones' return would really solidify the interior defensive line, especially with Ed Oliver on the field, as well. It's good timing because McDermott also said Tuesday that Jordan Phillips wouldn't practice due to his recent wrist surgery.
Matt Milano is done for the rest of the Bills' regular season
It's also unknown if he'll be available for the playoffs.
"To my knowledge, the information I have right now, it's not looking good," said McDermott. "…It's hard for me to say because I haven't asked that, specifically, but the general information I've gotten on Matt Milano is that he won't not return, this year. I haven't gotten anything different, up to this point, regarding Matt's status."
It's a little odd McDermott didn't ask if he'd be available for the playoffs, but it's safe to assume he won't be. Milano was ruled out indefinitely after suffering a leg/knee injury in Week 5 and even McDermott's "not looking good" comment is enough of an indicator.
That just opens the door for Tyrel Dodson to keep improving. He's played well in Milano's stead and it's really helped keep the Bills defense afloat while it deals with all the injuries.
"He's stepped up his game. He really has," said McDermott. "It's been fun to watch. The game Matt [Milano] went down in, we kinda went back and forth between Tyrel and I believe it was Dorian at the time, and then for 1-2 weeks after that. To T-Dod's credit, he stepped up and became very consistent and he's done that ever since. It's been fun to watch and I'm extremely proud of him."
Dodson is currently fourth on the team with 63 total tackles. He's also fourth in solo tackles (47) and tackles for loss (6), despite playing just 48% of defensive snaps, so far this year. He's also added 1.5 sacks, two pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to the stat sheet.
McDermott also said former first-rounder Kaiir Elam is still in the practice window, as well as Justin Shorter.
