Nick O'Leary will miss his first game this season. The tight end heads up a Bills inactive list that also includes WR Kelvin Benjamin, who was declared out on Friday by head coach Sean McDermott.
O'Leary sustained a back injury coming out of the Kansas City game last week. He did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but managed to participate on a limited basis on Friday. But his back clearly did not improve enough to play today against the Patriots.
The second-year tight end has 18 receptions for 254 yards and a touchdown this season.
Expected to fill the void are Khari Lee and Logan Thomas. Lee is likely to help more as an inline blocker, while Thomas can help as a target in the passing game.
Lee has appeared in five games this season, all since Week 7. Thomas has been active for nine games this season with a pair of starts. He has five receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Here are the rest of Buffalo's inactives for today's game against New England.
OT Conor McDermott
G John Miller
OT Cordy Glenn
FB Mike Tolbert
CB Shareece Wright
WR Kelvin Benjamin
TE Nick O'Leary
