Bills head coach Rex Ryan said late last week that they were "very concerned" about Reggie Ragland's knee injury, though they didn't know the full extent of the damage. Early this week they got the news they were hoping they wouldn't hear. In a team statement released Wednesday morning the Buffalo Bills announced that Ragland suffered a torn ACL that will require surgery and that he's expected to miss the entire 2016 season.
Ragland suffered the injury last Friday in a morning practice when in pursuit of a ball carrier his left knee buckled on him as he put his full body weight on his left leg. He went hopping on his right foot to the sideline immediately after his left knee collapsed and eventually sat down before getting off the field.
After being examined for several minutes on the field, Ragland was helped to his feet and walked to the locker room under his own power. But after initial MRIs were inconclusive, a new set of images revealed that Ragland sustained a partially torn ACL and surgery would be required to reconstruct his left knee.
Though there is a new injured reserve rule that would allow a team to bring a player on I-R back to practice if healthy so long as they were on I-R for at least six weeks, it does not appear that will be an option for the rookie linebacker.
Ragland was expected to start at inside linebacker alongside Preston Brown in Buffalo's defense in 2016. Seen as a three-down linebacker the Bills will now look to fill the void with veteran players like Zach Brown and the recently signed Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne. Third-year player Randell Johnson has also made the conversion from outside to inside linebacker this offseason and has made good progress.
Bills head coach Rex Ryan is expected to address Ragland's injury further at his 1 pm press conference.
