The Buffalo Bills will be without Dawson Knox for the immediate future after the team decided to place the tight end on injured reserve.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported on October 26 that the Bills made the injury designation for Knox after he underwent surgery on his wrist. The Bills had already suffered a number of injuries on defense, and now will be shorthanded on offense for a critical stretch of the season.
Major Setback for Bills
As the NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo reported, there appeared to be some hope that the Bills could have avoided placing Knox on IR. Bills head coach Sean McDermott initially avoided a timeline for Knox’s return, and the fact that the Bills did not immediately put him on injured reserve had raised some hope that he could be back in a shorter amount of time.
“When Sean McDermott said it was unclear how long #Bills TE Dawson Knox would be out, the thought was he might be back in under four weeks,” Garofolo wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Post-surgery, it was determined IR and four weeks at least was the smart route to go.”
Though Knox has been a top target for quarterback Josh Allen during his five seasons in Buffalo, he has seen a dip in production this season. Knox has made 15 receptions for 102 yards with one touchdown, falling behind first-round rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid in terms of offensive production.
The Bills have struggled on offense over the course of the last three games, a stretch when they have gone 1-2 with losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots with a win over the New York Giants that required a goal-line stop with no time remaining in the fourth quarter.
Big Opportunity for Dalton Kincaid
Knox’s absence could give the rookie Kincaid a bigger opportunity in the offense. Kincaid has 25 catches for 193 yards this season, the third-leading pass-catcher behind wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.
As SI.com’s Jonathan Alfaro wrote, Kincaid’s performance has been a bright spot for an otherwise struggling Bills offense. He earned some praise from McDermott after an eight-catch, 75-yard performance in the team’s October 22 loss to the Patriots.
“It looked like he had more targets today over the middle of the defense and man and zone, and I was excited to see that,” McDermott said, via the The Buffalo News. “We’ve got to continue to do that.”
Knox also saw encouraging signs in his rookie counterpart, noting that his emergence has helped the Bills bring a new level to the offense and makes it more difficult for defenses to key in on any one individual player — as teams have often done to Diggs in recent years.
“Definitely a bright part of the game,” Knox said. “He’s a weapon to be used. So hopefully, that will keep his confidence up. The more weapons we have on offense, the more we can spread the ball around, the more versatile we can be. The harder it is to defend every part. Definitely happy for him. Hopefully that will continue building.”
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