The Buffalo Bills might be going into Week 6 without one of their offensive players. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor is expected to sit out the Bills' upcoming game versus the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday due to a knee injury, according to Michael Fabiano of NFL Media, who cited sources familiar with Taylor's condition.
The 26-year-old quarterback's MCL (a ligament in the knee) injury resulted from a horse collar tackle during his team's 14-13 win over the Titans last weekend. In the game, Taylor only threw 109 yards but ran for 76 yards and successfully made two touchdowns.
As mentioned, his current condition will keep him out of Sunday's game against the Bengals and he will reportedly be re-evaluated next week. Coach Rex Ryan has provided an update about Taylor's health and said, via Buffalo News, "I can tell you this: He is beat up right now. He's sore. You ought to see him - he is sore. We knew he would be. Guys, he hasn't been 100 percent all season. We all know he finished the game, but we'll see how he's doing. We'll be looking at him throughout the week and everybody else that we have. He's sore now, I can tell you that much."
For five games this current season, Taylor has finished 96-of-137 passes (with 70.1 percent completions) for a total of 1,097 yards (8.0 yards per attempt) with nine touchdowns, four interceptions, as well as a quarterback rating of 103.6.
With Taylor unavailable, the team plans to replace him with EJ Manuel and, as a precautionary step, signs quarterback Josh Johnson on Tuesday. To make room in their roster for Johnson, the Bills waived recently signed kicker Billy Cundiff.
Johnson was only released by Indianapolis on Monday, so Andrew Luck is expected to play for the Colts on Sunday night's match against the New England Patriots. The 29-year-old quarterback has played for seven different teams in a span of eight seasons, including three this year. Johnson completed just over 54 percent of his passes with 10 interceptions and five touchdowns. He has delivered an average of 6.2 yards per carry in his career.
It is not clear how Johnson's acquisition would mean for Taylor's availability this week, but Fox Sports noted that is certainly not a good sign for the Bills, given that they had already brought in a third quarterback after trading Matt Cassel three weeks ago.