Patriots vs Bills: NFL Week 18 injury report

The New England Patriots, in desperate need of a win to make the NFL playoffs, will be in Buffalo on January 8th, 2023. They are +7.0 (bet365) on the spread for the game as they prepare to face the Buffalo Bills in Week 18 (Sunday).

Damar Hamlin situation is precedent-setting for Buffalo

The last week has been a different one for the Bills for sure. They witnessed their teammate fighting for his life on Monday night football and the days that followed have been anything but standard.

They, the Bills, will be down Damar Hamlin in Week 18 but with the cancellation of most of the action from Week 17 for Buffalo, they do not have a bad injury report. Of course, Hamlin and other players are not included in the injury report, so that needs to be considered when reviewing such material.

Josh Allen: FP with an ankle/right elbow problem on Friday after practice

The injury report for the game has recently been updated (the link exits to one of the team’s official websites for updates). Here’s a summary of the main points that bettors should be aware of ahead of placing bets on this game.

• DNP: did not participate in practice
• LP: limited participant in practice
• FP: full participant in practice

The injury report listed Josh Allen, the quarterback for Buffalo. Allen has been on every injury report for Buffalo since Week 10. He has a long-term problem with his right elbow.

However, he was FP on Friday and the injury is more of a background one as opposed to anything that will keep him off of the field. Buffalo had no one on the report that had a major injury. Every one of the players that they listed was a full participant in practice on Friday. That could reflect the fact that they only played 10 minutes of football in Week 17.

New England lists nine players on their half of the report

Meanwhile, New England had nine players listed on their half of the report. They have a host of players that are questionable for the game, including wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.

Between the two teams, it’s the Bills that enter the game in better physical shape. Buffalo is coming off of a different week psychologically and they will be without Hamlin. But the injury report shows no significant problems with the players that are listed.

Further reading: Our recent NFL Power Rankings