Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers each rule out two players ahead of Saturday’s game

The Buffalo Bills are making the trip west to take on the Los Angeles Chargers, l ooking for a third straight win, but they will be doing so, once again, without a couple of key defensive starters.

Thursday injury report pic.twitter.com/glVBNcvkW8

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) December 21, 2023

Security On Friday, Micah Hyde was ruled out, and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips of the Bills was placed on injured reserve (IR) by head coach Sean McDermott. While Phillips had surgery to fix a dislocated wrist, Hyde is still having problems from a third stinger from the same season. It’s not going to happen, despite Phillips’ statement on Wednesday that he planned to only miss two games and play in the season finale in Miami. Due to his trip to the injured reserve, Phillips will miss the rest of the regular season and, should Buffalo advance through the AFC and play past Week 18, the first round of the playoffs.

Justin Shorter, a rookie wide receiver, was also ruled out by Buffalo, but he remains officially on the team’s injured reserve (IR), having been there since August 30. All of this indicates that he won’t be added to the 53-man roster for this week. They have till the end of December to decide if they want to keep him off the roster or add him for the entire season. It appears that they have no intention of adding him back to the roster when his 21-day practice window ends, given the “out” label.

What’s more intriguing is that DaQuan Jones, whose window opened this week, and cornerback Kaiir Elam, whose window closes on Christmas Day, are both marked as iffy. Although neither player is currently on the 53-man roster and it was anticipated that Jones would not be activated until the very end of the season, it is possible that one or both of them would be added back to the roster in the near future due to dubious classifications.

A.J. Epenesa’s status for Saturday is still uncertain, and McDermott expressed the opinion that the defensive end requires further time to recover. This implies that the Bills may start Eli Ankou from the practice squad and/or see Poona Ford, who has only been in three games this season, on Saturday.

Sean McDermott says unlikely A.J. Epenesa will play Saturday.

Still needs more time for rib to heal.#Bills

— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) December 21, 2023

The fact that running back Ty Johnson is listed as questionable while recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered in the first half of Buffalo’s victory over the Dallas Cowboys last week may be the most worrying development for the team. After receiving an injury during the second quarter of Sunday’s game, Johnson visited the locker room before continuing to play. The fifth-year back, who is playing for Buffalo for the first time after being released by the New York Jets in the spring, was dressed modestly and wearing a red non-contact jersey when practice got underway this week. Buffalo could decide to give Johnson a week off if they believe that the Chargers’ defensive scheme and the California weather will better suit a passing (or at least more balanced) game plan. Although Johnson’s status hasn’t changed throughout the week, Buffalo does have full back Reggie Gilliam, running back James Cook (who just had his best game of the season), and Latavius Murray on their active roster.

The Chargers will also be without a few important players on their side of the field.

The Chargers’ most notable absence is wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is officially sidelined for the second consecutive game due to a heel ailment. Furthermore, Los Angeles will not be adding linebacker Joey Bosa back to their 53-man roster this week. Linebacker Tanner Muse, who is also on injured reserve but has an open practice window, is not expected to return to the Chargers before Saturday. It’s unclear that defensive back Deane Leonard will be wearing a uniform on Sunday, even if he was able to work himself back to a day of limited practice.

The official game-day rosters for both teams must be announced by 6:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, and it looks like there will be a lot of ambiguity until then.