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The Buffalo Bills defense has suffered a pair of serious injury setbacks over the past two weeks, and the start of practice for the team’s Week 10 game in Miami against the Dolphins brought more bad news for the hobbled unit which still ranks seventh in the NFL with 167 points allowed. In the October 26 matchup against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium, star defensive lineman Ed Oliver suffered a torn bicep and was forced to leave the game. Oliver was placed on the inured reserve list just two days later when it became clear that he would require surgery for the tear, and would be sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. Oliver underwent the surgery in Los Angeles last week, and has since said that he expects to be back in action for the February 8 Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California. Of course, his assessment is doubly optimistic, assuming not only that he will recover in the next three months from an surgery that typically requires four months or more to fully heal — and that the Bills will get to the Super Bowl without him. Bills D Loses Versatile Pass Rusher Then, in Week 9, the Bills scored an impressive victory over their arch-rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs — but that win also came at a high price when versatile pass rushing defensive end Michael Hoecht went down with what turned out to be a torn Achilles tendon. The fifth-year veteran was signed by the Bills to a three-year, $21 million free agent contract before the season but was also immediately slapped with a six-game suspension by the NFL for allegedly violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing drug use. In only his second game on the field with the Bills, Hoecht endured his season-ending injury. Bills in Danger of Losing Another Top Defender On Wednesday, the Bills announced another injury to an important defensive player. Joey Bosa, a 10-year veteran and six-time Pro Bowl selection, did not practice with the team Wednesday due to what the team said was some sort of injury to his left wrist, according to Matthew Bové, sports director at Buffalo TV station WKBW. Bosa was not forced to exit Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. WKBW sports reporter Dom Tibbets found video of a play in which “Bosa comes down already holding his wrist…signals the sideline with a ‘thumbs up’ afterwards.” Nonetheless, Bosa appeared to be in obvious discomfort, gripping the left wrist. In video of the incident, as described by WROC-TV sports director Thad Brown, Bosa is hit by his own teammate, defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis “coming over to help on Bosa’s 2nd quarter tackle for loss.” Bosa First Hurt Wrist in Carolina Game Dr. Kyle Trimble, a physical therapist who chronicles Bills injuries for his Banged Up Bills website and social media account, identified a play in the previous week’s victory over the Panthers in which Bosa appeared to suffer damage to the wrist. But Bosa, the 2016 No. 3 overall draft pick who signed with the Bills on a one-year, $12.6 million contract over the offseason, did not come out of that game either. Missing Wednesday practice reduces the chances that an NFL player will be available for the following Sunday’s game, but the most important practice in terms of predicting game-day participation is the Friday session. According to data, only about 28 percent of NFL players who miss a week’s final practice will play in that week’s game.
