DJ Moore injury update: Bills star receiver doubtful to return after aggravating shoulder injury vs. Patriots
The Buffalo Bills were locked in a tight battle with the New England Patriots when Josh Allen’s top target went down on a scramble drill near the sideline. DJ Moore is currently doubtful to return.
The Buffalo Bills cannot seem to escape the injury woes. Bills wide receiver DJ Moore left Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots with a shoulder injury, and he was listed as questionable to return. That has since been upgraded to “doubtful to return”.
Moore got hurt while trying to make a play on a scramble drill. Quarterback Josh Allen extended the play and fired a pass toward the sideline, and Moore fell on the same side he hurt in Week 2 against the Detroit Lions. That detail is what makes this one so concerning. Reports also indicated that Moore spent quite some time in the blue medical tent before he left the game.
This is bad news for Buffalo, and the timing could not be much worse, given what happened to Moore a couple weeks prior. The Bills are in a tight one with the Patriots as they lead 17-14 at half. They may have to pull this one out without their top target.
Why DJ Moore’s exit hurts the Bills
Moore is the No. 1 wide receiver in this offense. He is the main guy Allen looks for when a play breaks down, and that is exactly what happened on this snap. Allen escaped, Moore worked back toward the sideline to give his quarterback a target, and the play ended with Buffalo’s top pass catcher on the turf.
Before his injury, DJ Moore had two touches for 17 yards. That is a quiet afternoon by his standards, but the numbers do not tell the whole story. A WR1 like Moore changes how a defense plays an offense, even on the snaps when the ball goes somewhere else. Safeties have to respect him, and coverage has to tilt toward his side of the field. Take him out of the lineup in the middle of a game and the whole passing attack has to adjust on the fly.
That adjustment is even tougher in a close division game. The Patriots are never an easy out for Buffalo, and every possession matters when a game stays this tight. Now the Bills have to find answers in the passing game without the player they built a big part of the offense around.
Allen has bailed this team out plenty of times before. Make no mistake, though: he needs his weapons. Losing his best one in a game like this is a major blow. The Patriots are not the same team that they were from a year ago. That is evident even this early in the season. But divisional games take priority over the rest, and Buffalo needs this win.
Same shoulder, same worry
What bothers me most is the way DJ Moore reacted to the injury. He grabbed at his shoulder and neck area pretty quickly after he hit the ground. Moore looked to be in serious pain. That is not the body language you want to see from a player who already dealt with an injury to that same side earlier this season.
Again, falling on the same side he hurt in Week 2 is the kind of thing that makes a fanbase nervous. If this shoulder issue keeps flaring up, Buffalo could be looking at missing its top receiver for some stretch of the season. Nobody knows that yet, and the Bills will have more clarity once Moore is fully evaluated. It’s just the way it looks.
Moore has been, by all accounts, a great addition for Buffalo. It is tough to see him get shaken up again.
What comes next for Buffalo
I don’t know how this one shakes out. I’ll tell you this much, though: the Bills are going to lean on Allen even harder for the rest of this game. He will have to spread the ball around and make plays with his legs, and the rest of the receiver room will have to step up in a hurry.
We will find out soon whether Moore will miss serious time or not. Either way, Buffalo is built to survive one afternoon without him. The bigger question is the long haul, because the Bills need DJ Moore healthy to be the team they want to be in January and hopefully February.
