Heading into their final preseason game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott added three new players to the team's injury report and also expressed optimism about the status of a handful of players already on the injury report.
Safety Terrell Burgess (hamstring), nickel CB Taron Johnson (quad) and Will Clapp (concussion protocol) join the injury list.
McDermott explained that Johnson is dealing with more of a soreness than an injury at this point and the team is holding him out of Thursday's practice as a "preventative" measure. Burgess, however, is "more than likely" out for Saturday's preseason game.
On a positive note, McDermott believes that QB Mitch Trubisky (knee), WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (neck) and TE Quintin Morris (shoulder) are all trending upwards.
"I think all of them are going to be close," McDermott said of their Week 1 availability. "For me to say which ones, you know, are going to get back sooner, would be hard at this point."
When specifically asked about Valdes-Scantling and WR Curtis Samuel (turf toe), McDermott was optimistic about their availability for the season-opener against the Cardinals but doesn't want to definitively project that yet.
"I feel like those two, from what I've heard so far, have a real good chance of being back, just not committing to it yet," he said.
"There's no one that I other than Matt Milano, at this point that I understand, if I go through the list real quick, that we can definitely, at this point, rule out for Week 1."
The Bills starters will rest in Saturday's preseason finale and McDermott has been pleased with their practice performance this week.
"I think the important piece for us is that we not only stay sharp, but we're focused on taking another step and I saw some of that this week, and we've got to continue to do that next week as well," he said.
