It’s not all and well in Buffalo Bills land, but there were some positive updates provided on the health of a few of the team’s top players at least.
General manager Brandon Beane had his end-of-season press conference on Thursday at One Bills Drive. During the slew of questions he answered, injury news was mentioned.
Buffalo’s 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship featured three players getting dinged up: quarterback Josh Allen, cornerback Christian Benford, and wide receiver Amari Cooper.
It was revealed by Allen that he sustained an injury to his right-throwing hand near halftime of the contest. Some speculation has swirled relating to the type of issue, but per Beane, Allen did not break any bones in it.
That update from the GM makes sense as the QB played through the knock in the second half.
As compared to Allen, Benford had a much more serious problem.
Heading into the game, Benford was cleared from a concussion. He sustained another in Kansas City and was forced to leave the contest.
Beane said Benford is still in the concussion protocol, but added he was smiling when he recently saw him and felt that was a good sign of his progress.
Brandon Beane said Josh Allen did not break his hand in the KC game. . . . He also said Christian Benford is “good” but still is in concussion protocol so can’t comment further on his health.
— Mark Gaughan (@gggaughan) January 30, 2025
Meanwhile, Cooper was dealing with an issue that predated the AFC title contest.
Cooper had appeared on injury reports throughout the 2024 season with a wrist injury–after he was acquired via trade.
Cooper evidently had a serious wrist issue because he could have had surgery on it. Instead, he opted to play through it:
Brandon Beane on Amari Cooper trade: “I think you have to look at that from a lot of different angles.”
He starts with Cooper needing time to acclimate with the team and learn the offense.
“Honestly, I think he did a great job learning our offense,” Beane said— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) January 30, 2025
Bills Wire will continue to provide updates throughout the offseason.