Following their 41-40 last-second victory over the Ravens, the Bills made it their mission to take steps to fortify their defense ahead of their Week 2 matchup with the Jets. After a mid-week injury, they’ll now have to try to do it without their best defender from Week 1.
Starting defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who made several critical plays for the Bills against the Ravens, including the game-changing fourth quarter forced fumble of running back Derrick Henry, was declared out for their Week 2 game against the Jets due to an ankle injury.
“It’s unfortunate. Things happen, come up through practice. He got stepped on, friendly fire type of deal,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Friday. “Unfortunate, but an opportunity for someone to step up and show us what they’ve got.”
The injury was revealed publicly during the team’s open locker room on Thursday, when Oliver used a knee scooter to propel himself with his right leg into the team’s changing room. Oliver had his left leg immobilized on the scooter, with his left foot prominently in a walking boot. Oliver wasn’t on the knee scooter the entire time, as he stepped off of it to play a game of table tennis with a teammate in the locker room. After Oliver finished table tennis, he walked back to the knee scooter and rolled out of the locker room.
The Bills did not rule out Oliver for Week 3 against the Dolphins, though it’s a Thursday night game, which, due to the short turnaround, could enhance the difficulty in his being available for that contest. McDermott said there’s a “chance” Oliver could play, though he admitted they aren’t certain the probability of it at this point.
The Bills will feel the sting of Oliver’s absence quite a bit, especially since his forced fumble allowed the Bills to complete their comeback. Oliver’s full game in Week 1 included three tackles for loss, one sack and a pass rush pressure rate of 23.5 percent, according to TruMedia and Pro Football Focus. Oliver tied for the highest pressure rate of any defensive tackle in the NFL in Week 1, among those who had at least 10 pass-rushing snaps.
Even with Oliver, the Bills allowed 238 rushing yards to the Ravens on just 29 carries — a rushing average of 8.2 yards per attempt. With the Bills attempting to figure out the middle of their defense against a similarly potent Jets rushing attack in Week 2, they’ll have to do so shorthanded.
The team is thin as it is at defensive tackle, even before the Oliver injury. Second-year reserve player DeWayne Carter suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in the team’s final practice in August. The Bills are also without veteran Larry Ogunjobi, who is only one game into his six-week suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Oliver injury leaves the Bills with only starter DaQuan Jones, along with rookies T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker on the active roster. The team has three practice squad defensive tackles in Jordan Phillips, Zion Logue and the recently signed Phidarian Mathis.
Without Oliver, Sanders is expected to join the starting lineup next to Jones. Sanders, the No. 41 pick in April, played only 16 snaps against the Ravens, but received rave reviews for his pass-rushing ability throughout training camp and the preseason.
“Life’s all about opportunities. This one right here, you know, could be a big one for me,” Sanders told The Athletic on Thursday. “Go out there and put my best foot forward. Just remember all the training and teaching I’ve been getting throughout the week, even back to training camp, and the lessons I learned from Week 1, just going out there and putting it on display.”
The Bills only had a walkthrough practice on Thursday — an early-season rarity for the McDermott regime, though perhaps a justified action given the Oliver injury, and several others that limited some key starters during Wednesday’s practice, including defensive end Greg Rousseau, nickel Taron Johnson, cornerback Tre’Davious White, tight end Dawson Knox and running back James Cook.
The 1-0 Bills take on the 0-1 Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
(Photo: Tina MacIntyre-Yee / USA Today via Imagn Images)
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