Poyer and Gaines day to dayIt looked a lot worse on the last play of the game. Bills safety Jordan Poyer's right leg got rolled up when a Tampa Bay offensive lineman was knocked to the ground amidst a flurry of laterals by the Buccaneers. He limped off the field to the locker room, but head coach Sean McDermott said initial reports on Poyer are encouraging.
"Both he and E.J. (Gaines) are day to day," McDermott said. "We're going to list those guys as day to day. We're still going through the evaluation process right now and we'll take it one day at a time right now."
McDermott confirmed that it is a knee injury for Poyer. Meanwhile Gaines suffered a hamstring injury in the second half and did not return.
Gaines had just returned from a groin injury to play on Sunday.
Buffalo has been fortunate in getting some of their nicked up defensive backs back in the lineup sooner rather than later. McDermott is hopeful that Poyer and Gaines both fall into that category.
"Early signs are positive," he said. "The important thing is anyone who is hurt that they maximize those treatment opportunities so they can come back as quickly as they can. Our players have been phenomenal with taking care of things off the field. That's been one of the keys to our success."
Examining the cornerback numbersSince the start of the season Buffalo has made the choice to carry four cornerbacks on their 53-man roster. Most NFL clubs typically carry five cornerbacks, knowing one injury can quickly leave a defense short-handed against a high-powered passing attack.
With the aforementioned E.J. Gaines nursing a hamstring injury, McDermott admits that they are considering making a change with their numbers at the position.
"That's a fair assessment," he said. "We've looked at it all season long. We met on it earlier this morning Brandon and myself and some other members of the staff. You always want the best 53 football players you can find and try to keep things and numbers in balance at the same time, which is a day to day deal."
Knowing the Bills have quarterbacks like Derek Carr, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers on the horizon, carrying an additional cornerback could be a good preventative measure.
"It is a consideration," said McDermott. "The biggest picture right now is that we continue to grow and evolve to prepare ourselves for whatever may be down the road. Who knows what that is exactly because things seem to change week to week around this league. That said the schedule, I faced a similar if not exactly the same schedule a year ago in Carolina. I know what type of schedule this is. It's a tough, competitive schedule. A lot of big tests ahead and right now we're just trying to take it one day at a time and grow and improve every day."
Encouraging signs from GlennIn his first start since Week 2 at Carolina, left tackle Cordy Glenn logged 58 snaps on offense. Rookie Dion Dawkins rotated in for him for just nine plays as Glenn is just about back to a full game conditioning level.
By all accounts Glenn performed admirably despite being out of the lineup for a month.
"With Cordy coming back, Cordy felt good throughout the game," said McDermott. "I thought he played extremely well."
McDermott was pleased with the line's play across the board in both the run and the pass game in the win over Tampa Bay.
"I thought the offensive line did some good things," he said. "They gave Tyrod a clean pocket and Tyrod did a nice job at stepping up in the pocket at times and converting on some critical third downs in particular."
As for Glenn, who McDermott said was trending in the right direction going into last Sunday's game, all signs are pointing toward going from start to finish at left tackle in the very near future.
"The early review of the film would suggest that at this point," McDermott said. "So we'll see."
