On Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills cleared cornerback Tre’Davious White to return to full-team practice for the first time since tearing his ACL 11 months ago.
Since White was on the Injured Reserve, his return to practice means the Bills have opened a three-week window before he has to return to the field, and head coach Sean McDermott was quick to rule out the All-Pro for Buffalo’s game against the Kansas Chiefs on Sunday.
While many fans would obviously love to see Tre White back on the field in a showdown between two 4-1 teams, the timing of his activation means that the cornerback will have this whole week of practice plus two more weeks sandwiched around the team’s Week 7 bye before likely being activated for the Bills’ week eight Sunday Night Football showdown against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
White was hurt during a 31-6 win against New Orleans on Nov. 25, and had surgery to repair his torn ACL a few weeks later. He returned to individual work this summer during training camp, but had a visible limp and wasn’t able to push himself too hard. As a result, McDermott has repeatedly tried to pour cold water on enthusiasm for an immediate return, saying, “let’s crawl before we walk.”
However, Tre White’s imminent return is a huge deal for a Bills team that has been bombarded with injuries early in the season. Starting safety Jordan Poyer has missed two of five games with foot and rib injuries, while fellow starting safety Micah Hyde was placed on season-ending IR three weeks ago and underwent surgery for a herniated disk.
The injuries carried over to the cornerbacks as well. Dane Jackson, the corner most likely to start opposite White, missed two games after a scary neck injury, and rookie Christian Benford, who stepped into Tre White’s starting spot, Benford missed the past two games with a broken hand.
With White’s return on the horizon, you could look at the Bills’ injuries in the secondary with the siler lining that their depth players have now been tested at the NFL level. White figures to slot back into his starting spot with Jackson starting on the other side while Benford and fellow rookie Kaiir Elam operate as the back-ups on the boundary. Their experience will give the Bills the ability to ease White into his normal allotment of snaps, if they choose, or rotate more freely to keep players rested when facing teams with deep receiver rooms.
Bills Injury List is Shrinking
However, Tre White being back at practice wasn’t the only good news on the Buffalo injury front. A slew of players who missed last week’s 38-3 win over Pittsburgh were back on the field for Wednesday’s practice.
Slot receiver Isaiah McKenzie cleared concussion protocol and was able to practice in full, while Benford was back and practicing in the red, non-contact jersey as he recovers from surgery on his broken hand. Jordan Poyer also returned to practice in a non-contact jersey, while LB Tremaine Edmunds and TE Dawson Knox participated in practice Wednesday as well.
The Bills’ improving health is huge news for the team as they head into their showdown in Kansas City. Even without White back, McKenzie and Knox will allow this offense to operate and full health, while the, hopeful, return of Edmunds and Poyer gives the Bills back their two veteran play-callers on defense. They will also both be crucial in trying to put the clamps on Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
And even if the Chiefs game doesn’t break Buffalo’s way, getting their star cornerback back while sitting at 4-2 on the season would be a huge accomplishment given the other injuries. If he can return to a 5-1 team that just dispatched the Chiefs on the road, it would be a major warning sign to the rest of the NFL.
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