Bills vs. Jets: Buffalo’s first injury report of the 2023 NFL season is minimal

Buffalo had an almost clean injury report to start the season with just Micah Hyde doing his best to keep things interesting

The Buffalo Bills will open the 2023 season on the road when they take on the New York Jets to kick off this season’s slate of Monday Night Football games. The team’s first official injury report of the season is almost as clean as their current standing. Almost.

Safety Micah Hyde had to keep things interesting during the first week of the regular season by showing up to Wednesday’s practice with a sore back. While head coach Sean McDermott said that the veteran wouldn’t practice yesterday, he was seen doing some light warm-ups and getting treatment from the training staff. After Thursday’s limited practice, Hyde met with members of the media and quickly put to rest any speculation that he thought he might be inactive come Monday.

“No.” Hyde’s simple response — along with a lot of head shaking — shut down any further discussion when asked if he thought he might miss the season opener.

Hyde admitted that he has been looking forward to Monday and is eager to get out on the field after missing all but one and a half games last season. The string safety missed the majority of his 12th year in the league after a tackle on Tennessee Titans receiver Robert Woods in Week 2 left him with a neck injury that required surgery to repair.

“It’s exactly how it’s going to be,” Hyde said in response to being asked if it would be like being a kid in a candy shop when he finally steps out on the field in four days. “I’m going to be ready for Monday night.”

Of course, members of the media were quick to post videos of Hyde at practice today:

On another note, it’s good to see that left guard Connor McGovern, who had injured his knee during a training camp pile up, is not on the Bills’ injury report in any capacity. McGovern had a knee brace on during practice this week, but apparently is good to go — which is good news for quarterback Josh Allen who plays behind a front line last season that, all too often, looked like it had more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese.

As for Buffalo’s opponent on Monday night, the New York Jets, their injury report wasn’t quite as clean. They listed three players with limited participation today:

• OT Mekhi Becton (knee)
• OT Duane Brown (shoulder)
• RB Breece Hall (knee)

Becton missed all of last season with a knee injury and is apparently still struggling with the strength in his knee after he fractured the knee cap on his surgically repaired right knee. Becton has actually been dealing with injuries to his knee since early in the 2021 season.

It could be a long night for quarterback Aaron Rodgers if Becton is struggling to keep up with the Bills’ pass rushers — especially since Duane Brown, who’s supposed to protect Rodgers from the opposite side of the line as Becton, also isn’t healthy. Brown is listed with a shoulder injury. Brown injured his shoulder in the first portion of last season and gutted out the final 12 games. Utlimately Brown had rotator cuff surgery in February of this year.

As for Breece Hall, who the Jets need to run the ball and take some pressure off of Rodgers, he’s coming back from an ACL injury suffered in October of last year. Of course, the Jets also have James Cook’s brother, Dalvin Cook, to run the ball. But since he just joined the Jets’ offense three weeks ago, it’s unclear how in tune he is with the playbook.