Andy Isabella is the latest player to join a lengthy injury list — a situation that concerns Sean McDermott
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott is no stranger to the game of chess required when trying to stay ahead of player injuries. Though Bills Mafia have, at times, believed no other team endures the amount of injuries, the reality is that every team has to navigate the issues, and there’s never a good time to lose any player.
Recently, it seems as though there’s a player injured every day of training camp, the latest being wide receiver Andy Isabella who reportedly suffered a leg injury. Though carted off, the good news is that Isabella was walking, albeit “with a sleeve on his left leg,” per ESPN Bills beat reporter Alaina Getzenberg.
Andy Isabella just walked by after practice with a sleeve on his left leg. https://t.co/MVXMqUDeka
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) August 5, 2024
With no practice on Tuesday, we’ll likely have to wait until at least Wednesday for an update on Andy Isabella. In a crowded wide receiver room, Isabella is among a key group of wide receivers vying for a spot on the team’s active roster. He’s most likely in a dog fight for the sixth and final opening on the unit.
An injury just days before Buffalo’s first preseason game against the Chicago Bears is less than ideal for players on the bubble. And Isabella isn’t the only one faced with this situation. He, at least, has familiarity with the system a season with the team under his belt. But that isn’t true for everyone dealing with an injury.
During Sunday’s morning press conference, Sean McDermott began by announcing the team had re-signed linebacker Shayne Simon and informed reporters that defensive end David Ugwoebu had been waived/injured. McDermott mentioned that Ugwoebu was hurt during Friday’s practice.
It’s since been revealed that Ugwoebu has a hip injury, and he’s reverted to the team’s Injured Reserve. As such, he will now miss the entirety of his rookie season unless the Bills waive him with an injury settlement.
While neither the addition of Simon nor the release of Ugwoebu were likely to impact starting roster spots, they do pile on to what’s become a troubling theme during this summer’s training camp at St. John Fisher University: Availability.
McDermott would go on to read nine additional names of players on the injury list and unable to practice.
- Mike Edwards, S (hamstring, week-to-week)
- Cole Bishop, S (shoulder, week-to-week)
- Chase Claypool, WR (toe, day-to-day)
- Ty Johnson, RB (hamstring, day-to-day)
- La’el Collins, OL (knee, day-to-day)
- Travis Clayton, OL (shoulder, day-to-day)
- Nick Morrow, LB (core muscle/groin, day-to-day)
- Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB (ribs)
- Dawson Knox, TE (groin)
Asked if what reads as a “pretty extensive list” is concerning to him, McDermott didn’t hesitate to say “Yeah. I mean, you know it’s hard to develop when you’re not on the field. But we’ll find our way through it. We’ve done it before. You know, full confidence in medical staff to get those guys back as soon as we can. And, you know, we develop the guys that are out on the field, that’s what we do.” But, again, this is nothing new to McDermott.
Reading through the list, the injuries to safeties Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop pop furthest off the page. As week-to-week injuries, that means both players will miss significant time and valuable reps ahead of the regular season. For some players, hamstring injuries linger, while others can be back in days. For Bishop, a shoulder injury could eat significantly into his development as a rookie, and we still haven’t heard what type of injury he suffered to the shoulder.
McDermott realizes the hurdle in front of Bishop, telling reporters that “(i)t’s hard. You’ve gotta do as much as you can mentally. I mean, when you look at Mike, Mike’s situation as well, Mike missed most of the spring — now missing a lot of the valuable reps in training camp. And now Cole, uh, it’s really hard. Right? Especially when you don’t have background in the system. We were talking about it as a staff last night and you know, TB missed a lot of, or a significant portion, of camp last year. But TB had been in the system for at least one year prior. So it’s a challenge in order to develop those guys, and it’s gonna take some time.”
As McDermott mentioned, missing the bulk of camp doesn’t have to be a death knell to a player’s chances at making the roster. Linebacker Terrel Bernard put together an impressive first season as a starter, but he did have the benefit of knowledge in the system. Neither Edwards or Bishop have been afforded the same, which could harm their chances at landing starting roles and, or contributing significantly to begin the 2024 NFL season.