Alaina GetzenbergESPN
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer hyperextended his elbow during the team’s training camp practice Tuesday and will miss “a few weeks,” a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Bills are set to play in the league’s season opener Sept. 8 vs. the Los Angeles Rams, and the expectation is that Poyer will be ready for that game.
Poyer suffered the injury during the team’s 11-on-11 drills as he made a stop during a run by rookie running back James Cook near the end zone. The 31-year-old safety walked off the field but was later taken to the team’s locker room on a cart after dealing with the injury off to the side. He walked out of the locker room a bit after practice concluded with his left arm covered in a t-shirt and appearing to have a sling on his arm.
This is the second injury to a starting safety since the Bills opened training camp last Sunday. Safety Micah Hyde is dealing with a minor injury after injuring his hip/glute as he fell to the ground while trying to come down with an interception in practice Friday. Hyde has been limited in the last two practices, including not taking part in the team portion.
“He’s gonna be day-to-day, he’s got some soreness on his hip there where he fell, where he came down on it, but we think he’ll be OK at this point,” coach Sean McDermott said Saturday.
Poyer, who was named First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career last year, requested a contract extension this offseason. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, attended the Bills’ first training camp practice of the season and met with general manager Brandon Beane, but no agreement has been reached. Poyer is on the last year of his deal.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White is also on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL suffered on Thanksgiving.
“From what I’ve been told, [Tre is] really progressing well and [the athletic trainers are] excited about where he is at this point,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said.
Hyde and Poyer have played crucial roles in the Bills defense since joining as free agents in 2017, McDermott’s first year as head coach. The duo is arguably the best safety tandem in the NFL. Behind them, backups Jaquan Johnson and Damar Hamlin have already received extra reps with both starting safeties sitting out the offseason program outside of mandatory minicamp. Those opportunities will only increase with the recent injuries.
“We get a chance to watch those guys in game-like situations and be able to determine who’s going to be our third safety if something were to happen to Micah or Jordan, or we want to take them out of a game because we have a big lead or whatever,” Frazier said. “How are those guys going to perform? So, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, they’re getting more reps and it really helps us from an evaluation standpoint, and they both have accepted it very, very well. They’re kind of neck and neck right now which is not a bad thing.
“And I would imagine once we start playing some games in the preseason, it will kind of separate itself, but they’re both doing very well with the reps they’re getting.”