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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills starting cornerback Dane Jackson was being evaluated for a neck injury at the hospital Monday night following a scary collision with a teammate during Buffalo’s 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Jackson has full movement in his extremities, according to the Bills, and was getting a CT scan and an X-ray at Erie County Medical Center.
“Still awaiting word and obviously praying for Dane and all of [the Bills’ injured players],” coach Sean McDermott said after the game. “You go from the real part of it here; you go from being a coach to just being a human when I’m out there watching him getting loaded into the ambulance. That’s a real moment.”
The inadvertent collision occurred while Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was making a second-down tackle on Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks with less than a minute remaining in the first half. Jackson’s head appeared to snap back after making contact with Edmunds’ helmet.
“Definitely a tough play. Just kind of saw the receiver still up, just trying to finish the play,” Edmunds said. “A situation that obviously, I didn’t do intentionally. I would never try to do something like that to my teammate, but like I said … the receiver was still up, I was just trying to finish him to the ground and unfortunately, I end up hitting Dane.”
The game was delayed for nearly 10 minutes as team trainers attended to Jackson, who was moving his legs. He was then placed onto a stretcher and taken through the stadium tunnel in an ambulance.
Teammates surrounded Jackson as he was being tended to, with Edmunds remaining nearby almost the entire time.
“Just to see him moving, just to see him give a thumbs-up on the way out — obviously, that helped a lot of us. … It eased a lot of our minds,” Edmunds said.
McDermott said he had a moment to speak with Jackson in the Bills’ tunnel before the ambulance left the stadium.
Jackson, a 2020 seventh-round draft pick from Pittsburgh who began the season starting in place of an injured Tre’Davious White, had three tackles Monday and last week recorded an interception in the Bills’ win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Following Jackson’s injury, rookies Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam took over in his place. They had been rotating opposite Jackson to start the season.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin, a close friend of Jackson’s and his teammate at Pitt, said that while the moment on the field was difficult, he got an encouraging response from Jackson.
“It felt terrible. It felt like one of my brothers was down,” Hamlin said. “And with the severity of how it happened, it just made it even more extreme. ‘Cause it didn’t seem like just [a] regular injury. But once I talked to him, once he told me he was good on the field — we got that kind of bond where he’s going to let me know if something up, so, I’m praying for him, and I know he’ll be OK.”
As for other Bills injuries, starting safety Micah Hyde was ruled out after suffering a neck injury late in the third quarter, when Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill connected with receiver Robert Woods on first down. Hyde was examined on the field for a couple of minutes before walking off under his own power and entering the blue medical tent.
Hyde was later taken off the field on the back of a cart. Backup Jaquan Johnson replaced him in the game.
“It was kind of a weird game, wasn’t it,” safety Jordan Poyer said. “I texted Micah, he said he’s all right. Dane said he was all right, too. Just praying for those guys.”
Bills center Mitch Morse missed a portion of the game with a right elbow injury, but he was able to return. Linebacker Matt Milano (stinger) and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (hamstring) both left the game with injuries at the same time many backups came in. Wide receiver Gabe Davis missed the game with an ankle injury.
McDermott did not have any further update on the Bills’ injuries.
Source: www.espn.com