The Buffalo Bills are on the wrong side of an injury epidemic. After this weeks injury to veteran defensive tackle Ed Oliver, the injured reserve for the Buffalo Bills now contains ten players.
To make matters worse, of the ten injuries, nine belong to the defensive or special teams units.
To combat these injuries on the defensive side, the Bills have signed a pair of veterans to the active roster. Adam Schefter announced Tuesday that both defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and safety Jordan Poyer have been elevated for Week 9.
The pair of Jordan’s will have one week to prepare for the most anticipated game on the Bills 2025 schedule, Sunday afternoon’s 4:25 kickoff against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jordan Phillips Beefs Up Hobbled Defensive Line
The defensive line has been, by far, the most affected group. On the IR alone we see Dewayne Carter, Ed Oliver and TJ Sanders. Additionally, veteran Daquan Jones hasn’t played a snap since Week 5 when he left with a calf injury.
Jordan Phillips is an 11 year NFL vet. His best career season came in 2019 when he recorded 9.5 sacks with the Bills. He has been with four different teams after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins and serving stints with the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.
But the 33-year-old seems to always find his way back to Buffalo. The most recent reacquaintance marks the third different time he has come back.
Last season he played in seven games with the team, recording just five tackles. This season he has logged 66 snaps played in his three games on the active roster.
He played in a season high 40% of snaps in the win over the New Orleans Saints Week 4.
The run game for the Chiefs is significantly hobbled, so it is likely the veteran will on be needed on short yardage scenarios.
Jordan Poyer Is Not Going Anywhere
The Bills entered the season with five safeties on roster. Two of those five have been placed on season ending IR. That means the 34-year-old NFL mainstay Jordan Poyer is here to stay.
Poyer has spent the best of his 13 career years in Buffalo. Between 2018-2020, Poyer averaged 110 tackles a year posting three straight triple digit seasons. He reached the 100 tackle benchmakr once again for the Bills in 2023 before joining the Miami Dolphins last season.
He recorded 98 tackles for the Phins, playing in 16 games.
I say that to say this, the 34-year-old can still ball and he has proven it time and time again.
Sunday against the Chiefs will be Poyer’s third game of the season. Last week was his first work in a real starting capacity, making five tackles and playing in 75% of the defensive snaps for the surging Bills.
This week he will have to be vintage if this hurt defense has any chance to slow down one of the most prolific passers in NFL history.
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