Bills vs. Jaguars: Mid-week injury trends

With just one more practice before the Buffalo Bills host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football, it's time to take a look at how the injuries are trending for both teams. Despite some long-term injuries to key players, things might be looking more up than down at One Bills Drive this week.

Bills Players Trending Up QB Josh Allen (left hand) QB Mitch Trubisky (knee) RB Ty Johnson (knee) TE Quintin Morris (shoulder) DE Casey Toohill (knee) Most of these names have been sitting in this category for a week or more, but it's Toohill's status that's a positive here. After not being on the injury list the last couple of weeks (he did struggle some through preseason), Toohill showed back up as a name to keep an eye on at the beginning of this week. But, after being limited in the Bills' first practice this week, he was back to a full participant today. Toohill adds depth to Buffalo's pass rush, which is important when we look at the next category.

Bills Players Holding Steady DE Javon Solomon (oblique) DE Dawuane Smoot (toe) NCB Taron Johnson (forearm) LB Terrell Bernard (pectoral) Solomon and Smoot have been on Buffalo's injury list since the season opened. While it seems like they have been making slow progress, we have to remember that the Bills' first two games took place in a span of five days. While they are limited in practice this week, I would expect to see them on the inactive list again this week since Toohill seems ready to go. Buffalo's defense has six sacks and four forced turnovers in their first two games, and it seems likely that head coach Sean McDermott will just keep things status quo — at least until these two have some full practices in pads.

As for the second two names on this list, usually I would have them in the trending down category, but this week they are here. Why? Because Johnson and Bernard aren't being moved to Injured Reserve (IR). They won't be playing — McDermott ruled them out back on Tuesday — but they aren't being moved off the roster, which with the injuries they suffered, is a very good sign that they could be back in just a few weeks. We've had no updates but we can try to go with the "no news is good news" mantra here and know that we're looking at another two-ish weeks for Johnson and maybe another 3-4 weeks for Bernard to start making their comebacks. If it was going to be more than that, they would be on IR.

Bills Players on IR — designated to return LB Matt Milano (bicep) RB Darrynton Evans (hamstring) Nothing has changed here, but I brought up in Week 1 that we need to keep mentioning their names when discussing the state of the Bills' roster. Evans will have another week before he can begin to make a return, while Milano is months away. While running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson are doing just fine in the offensive backfield and linebackers Dorian Williams and Baylon Spector are holding down the linebacker spots, it's important to remember that the Bills won't have the roster they expected to start the season with available to them for some time.

Jaguars Players Trending Down TE Evan Engram (hamstring) OT Cam Robinson (knee) While Jacksonville hasn't made any official announcements, it would be hard to think that Engram will suit up Monday night — and if he is, he'll be hampered for sure. The veteran tight end was injured in warmups before last week's game and never took the field. He still hasn't been able to practice, so it's highly unlikely he'll be playing in Buffalo this week either.

As for Robinson, we don't know much about his injury. He was fine yesterday and then limited today. The 28 year old has a history of knee injuries, including an ACL tear in 2018 and a meniscus tear in 2022. It could just be that he's sore and the Jaguars are taking precautionary measures. Or, it could be something to keep an eye on.

Jaguars Players Holding Steady RB Tank Bigsby (shoulder) DB Darnell Savage (quadriceps) Bigsby and Savage keep working their way through practices this week. They're getting some work in, although it's limited. I'm sure the Jaguars would like to have them on the field Monday night, but it's likely to be one of those situations where we have to wait until inactives are announced Monday evening to know whether it was enough.

One more day of practice, after which, head coaches may give us a sneak preview into which players they are ruling out for Week 3. But, if not, it will be 5:30 p.m. EDT before we have anything definitive.