Bills open 21-day practice windows of two rookies on injured reserve

Former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano is not the only injured contributor whom the Buffalo Bills expect to get back in the coming weeks, as the team has opened the 21-day practice windows of offensive tackle Tylan Grable and defensive tackle DeWayne Carter. The rookies have been on injured reserve since September and October, respectively; both returned to practice on Wednesday.

Head coach Sean McDermott announced that the team had opened both players’ windows during his Wednesday media availability. Grable, the team’s sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft who showed immense promise in the preseason, picked up an abdominal injury while logging garbage time snaps in Buffalo’s Week 3 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars; he's been on IR since. His presumptive impending return is promising, and where he falls on the depth chart will be something to monitor; he had usurped third-year lineman Ryan Van Demark as the team’s primary swing tackle prior to his injury, but Van Demark has since played admirably when forced to fill in for Spencer Brown in spot duty.

Carter suffered a surgery-requiring wrist injury in the Bills’ Week 7 win over the Tennessee Titans, resulting in his placement on IR shortly thereafter. The rookie had seen his play steadily improve in the lead-up to his injury, playing on between 46% and 54% of the team’s defensive snaps from Weeks 4–7. He had recorded nine tackles, seven run stops, and five quarterback pressures prior to suffering his injury, per PFF, with his most impressive plays being a Week 4 goalline stop on Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and a Week 7 fourth-down tackle.

McDermott stated in early November that the team expected him to return this season, and the opening of his practice window would indicate that the Bills anticipate having him within the next three weeks. The rookie will return to a new-look defensive tackle group, however, as Buffalo has signed veterans Quinton Jefferson and Jordan Phillips in his absence.