ORCHARD PARK – The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens have each played 18 games on their way to Sunday’s AFC divisional round showdown at Highmark Stadium, yet they each will enter the game uncommonly healthy.
While Buffalo’s injury report lists 12 players, all but two have participated fully in practice this week and will be ready to play. And those two players who have been limited, running back Ray Davis (concussion) and offensive lineman Alec Anderson (calf), have a good chance to play.
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Anderson was hurt last week in the victory over the Broncos, but he was able to return and finish the game which is usually a good sign for the next week.
“He’s trending in the right direction, we’ll see today how he looks,” coach Sean McDermott said Friday morning.
As for Davis, he has spent the week in the NFL’s concussion protocol after taking a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit from Denver’s Brandon Jones. The rookie did not finish the game, but the fact that he was in a non-contact practice jersey Thursday is a sign that he is progressing the protocol which means he’s on track to play. Concussions are tricky, though, so he’ll be listed as questionable for the game.
“Ray remains in the concussion protocol, so we’ll see where that goes,” McDermott said.
The only player listed on the Bills’ injury report who did not plat against Denver was return man Brandon Codrington who sat out with a hamstring injury. However, he has practiced all week and McDermott said, “He’s done a good job of getting himself back and putting in a good week.”
In Baltimore, only two players are on the report, but one of those is a key part of the offense, wide receiver Zay Flowers. He suffered a knee injury in the regular-season finale and missed last week’s wild-card win over Pittsburgh. Flowers has not practiced this week, though coach John Harbaugh said that no one should read anything into that.
Harbaugh said Wednesday if Flowers – Baltimore’s leading receiver who had 74 catches for 1,059 yards and four TDs – is feeling well enough to play Sunday, he can do so without having practiced during the week. Friday, he remained hopeful, saying “I think he’ll have a chance.” However, the Ravens went on to list him as doubtful for the game, a significant loss for Baltimore’s passing game.
The other player on the Ravens injury report is wide receiver/return man Deonte Harty, the former Bill who has not played since Oct. 13, but has been a full participant in practice, so a return is possible. He is officially questionable.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social. Sign up for his Bills Blast newsletter here: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
