Amari Cooper returns, crucial OT out for Bills’ Week 11 matchup vs. Chiefs

Wide receiver Amari Cooper is active for the Buffalo Bills' Week 11 bout with the Kansas City Chiefs, but the team will be without their starting right tackle.

Kyle Silagyi | Nov 17, 2024

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The Buffalo Bills will be without their starting right tackle for their hotly anticipated Week 11 bout with the Kansas City Chiefs, but a key offensive contributor is set to make their return.

Buffalo has released its inactives list ahead of Sunday's AFC Divisional Round rematch, with offensive lineman Spencer Brown being the team’s most notable omission; wide receiver Keon Coleman, tight end Dalton Kincaid, cornerback Kaiir Elam, linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, and offensive lineman Will Clapp round out the inactives list. Five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper is active and will play against the undefeated Chiefs.

Both Brown and Cooper were listed as questionable on the Bills’ final injury report of the week. The fourth-year tackle injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of Buffalo’s Week 10 win over the Indianapolis Colts, momentarily leaving the team’s final offensive drive before returning. He missed the Bills’ first two practices of the week before participating in Friday’s practice in a limited capacity, but evidently did not make the progress necessary to suit up against Kansas City. He’ll be spelled by third-year swing tackle Ryan Van Demark.

Cooper, a seven-time 1,000-yard receiver whom the Buffalo acquired from the Cleveland Browns in mid-October, has missed the last two games after suffering a wrist injury in the Bills' Week 8 clash with the Seattle Seahawks. He told reporters late in the week that he expected to play against Kansas City and that he plans to do so with a cast on his injured left wrist; this will be just his third game with the Bills after catching five passes for 69 yards and one score in his first two games donning a Buffalo uniform.

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Brown’s absence figures to be felt, as he’s developed into an integral part of the Bills’ offensive line throughout the past two years, in particular; that said, Van Demark impressed in spot duty last week. Cooper’s return also figures to be significant, especially considering that Coleman and Kincaid are sidelined with wrist and knee injuries, respectively. While Allen looks likely to lean on trusted targets like Khalil Shakir and Dawson Knox in the passing game this week, don’t be surprised if Cooper sees an uptick in usage compared to what fans saw over his first two games given Buffalo’s injuries at pass catcher.

The rest of the inactives list is relatively unsurprising (as both Coleman and Kincaid were ruled out earlier this week), with Elam being the biggest head-scratcher. The former first-round draft pick has been active for every other game this year, but as The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia noted on Twitter, his lack of special teams ability perhaps caused the team to sideline him this week given fullback Reggie Gilliam’s return. Ulofoshio and Clapp are inactives list mainstays, at this juncture.

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