The Buffalo Bills’ CB Dane Jackson and S Taylor Rapp have returned to practice for Week 14

 

 

After a much-needed Bye Week, the Buffalo Bills start Week 14 with everyone ready to practice.

The only non-participant was edge rusher Von Miller, who received a veteran rest day.

Safety Taylor Rapp, who suffered what looked to be a much-more-serious-than-it-turned-out-to-be neck injury in Week 11, was back to practice. So was Dane Jackson who entered the NFL’s concussion protocol just game-minutes before Rapp’s injury. The pair of defensive backs who usually provide depth for the Bills sat out Week 12, but with the benefit of an extra week of rest due to the bye, they’re both back at work.

Edge rusher Leonard Floyd and tight end Dalton Kincaid were surprise entries to this week’s injury list as there had been no indication that they were struggling with anything prior to the bye or even at McDermott’s press conference earlier today. However, their injuries — a wrist for Floyd and a thumb for Kincaid — weren’t enough to keep them from completing their full workload on Buffalo’s first day back to practice.

Quarterback Josh Allen continues to show up with a shoulder injury, but most likely he will stay right there for the duration of the season. Unless he regresses, it’s more of a technical issue than a concern at this point.

The big news comes with tight end Dawson Knox and cornerback Kaiir Elam participating — both as full participants — today, effectively opening their 21-day practice windows. The Bills will now have until December 26 to add either or both of them back to the 53-man roster. Failure to do so will mean that they must sit out what is left of the 2023 season (and any postseason games that the Bills potentially play in).

While McDermott said that they were back at practice, he used his trademark “one day at a time” to describe the team’s approach to whether they will and/or when they would be activated.

Von Miller’s Vet Rest Day puts him back on last year’s practice schedule and game preparation methods. While it wasn’t specifically stated, it could be presumed that the hope is that having Miller go back to his tried-and-true practice plan could help Miller return to the dominant form he had before last year’s season-ending ACL tear. Since returning in Week 5 of this season, Miller has been fairly invisible on the gridiron — recording just one tackle and no sacks over the course of eight games.