The Buffalo Bills have placed cornerback Kaiir Elam on the injured reserve list due to a lingering ankle injury, according to the team’s official X account. As a corresponding move, the Bills signed veteran defensive lineman Linval Joseph.
Elam initially suffered the injury back in training camp and missed the first several weeks of the season because of it. He made his return against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, but re-aggravated the injury during the Bills’ win over the New York Giants one week later and has been sidelined ever since.
On Wednesday, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said that a stint on the injured reserve list was a possibility for Elam, so Thursday’s move does not come as much of a surprise.
Elam, who played his collegiate football at the University of Florida, was selected by the Bills with the 23rd overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The 22-year-old has been a rather big disappointment for Buffalo thus far.
He played in 13 games during his rookie campaign, registering 41 tackles, a couple of interceptions and four passes defended. This season, he has only appeared in two contests, logging 14 tackles.
The Bills’ secondary has been somewhat of a weak point this season, as the club lost top cornerback Tre’Davious White to a torn Achilles earlier in the year and hasn’t exactly gotten top-tier play from the rest of its defensive backs.
Buffalo tried to address the problem at the trade deadline, swinging a deal with the Green Bay Packers for cornerback Rasul Douglas on Tuesday.
Obviously, the Douglas acquisition is even more important now that Elam is out for the foreseeable future.
The Bills have actually been one of the league’s most puzzling teams this season, looking dominant for stretches and entirely beatable in other stints.
Buffalo is 5-3 on the year and will battle the surging Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday.
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