The Bills won’t have a pair of defensive players when they take on the Dolphins this weekend.
Head coach Sean McDermott announced in his weekly appearance on WGR550 that defensive end A.J. Epenesa and linebacker Shaq Thompson will not play on Sunday.
Epenesa is dealing with a concussion while Thompson has a hamstring injury. Neither player has practiced this week.
Additionally, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf), receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle), cornerback Taron Johnson (groin), and cornerback Christian Benford (groin) are all set to be questionable for the divisional matchup.
While running back James Cook did not practice on Wednesday with an ankle issue, he was limited in practice on Thursday and appears set to play in Sunday’s contest.
Buffalo will officially release its last injury report of the week later on Friday.
The Ravens aren’t the only struggling team that removed games from the locker room.
Via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, games are gone from the Dolphins’ locker room, too.
A Pop-A-Shot game, another basketball hoop, and a card table are MIA in Miami.
“Honestly, I got beat and I got mad and I just broke the whole thing,” left tackle Patrick Paul said, via Habib. “No, I’m kidding. But yeah, I don’t know. Wanted to redecorate, I guess.”
Receiver Jaylen Waddle said the move is “not necessarily” tied to the team’s struggles. “I think there’s a lot of furniture being moved around here,” Waddle said, via Habib.
Defensive tackle Benito Jones ultimately spilled the tea, comparing the move to the one that happened in Baltimore.
“We just want to focus on the little things,” Jones said, adding that it was a decision by the players, not the coaches.
The question is whether it will make a difference. There’s an argument to be made that, at this point, it won’t matter.
But even if the playoffs are a pipe dream for the Dolphins, they can do enough (in theory) to earn a fifth season for head coach Mike McDaniel.
The Dolphins have moved on from one of their tight ends.
Miami announced on Thursday that the club has waived Tanner Conner.
Conner, 27, had joined the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho State in 2022.
He had appeared in 33 career games with one start, catching 12 passes for 107 yards. In 2025, he recorded nine receptions for 91 yards in nine games. He was on the field for 181 offensive snaps and 116 special teams snaps this year.
Bills running back James Cook (ankle) and defensive end Joey Bosa (wrist) returned to practice on Thursday. Both players were limited after sitting out on-field work Wednesday.
Cook tweaked his ankle in Sunday’s victory but still played 76 percent of the snaps and rushed for 114 yards.
Coach Sean McDermott said Cook was “sore” the two days after the game.
Bosa played 44 of 60 defensive snaps on Sunday.
Cornerback Christian Benford popped up on the practice report on Wednesday with a groin injury that limited him. It is an indication that he aggravated his groin during practice, as he was out of Thursday’s session.
Benford had a groin issue leading up to the season opener.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard (ankle) had a full practice after limited work on Wednesday, and defensive back Sam Franklin was a new addition, with an illness keeping him out.
Cornerback Taron Johnson (groin) and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf) returned to practice as limited participants.
Wide receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle) remained limited a second day, and defensive end A.J. Espenesa (concussion) again was a non-participant.
A 2-7 start for the Dolphins led to a change at General Manager last week and there’s been plenty of discussion about other moves, including the possible benching of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has not shown an appetite for going that route and said again this week that he views Tagovailoa as the team’s starter for the long run. On Wednesday, Tagovailoa said that he doesn’t feel like convincing McDaniel or anyone else of his fitness for that role is what’s driving him right now.
“I wouldn’t say I’m playing to keep my job,” Tagovailoa said, via Alanis Thames of the Associated Press. “I think I’m playing to help our team win every time. I think that’s the objective for every quarterback that’s playing. For every football player that’s playing as well, the objective is ‘how can I help my team win games?’ So I would say if you’re looking at it in that sense, I would say my performance needs to be better. My performance doesn’t reflect me trying to keep my job because that’s not the standard I’ve been playing [to] all these other years.”
The Dolphins are on the hook for $54 million next season whether Tagovailoa is the starter or not, so finding a level of play that changes that conversation would be a welcome development during a season that’s seen little to nothing go right in Miami.
