Bills DL Ed Oliver Injured His Hip During Warmups And Was Ruled Out For The

Bills DL Ed Oliver Sidelined by Hip Injury During Warmups vs. Lions

Buffalo, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills received a significant pregame blow Thursday night when defensive tackle Ed Oliver was ruled out of the team's Thursday Night Football matchup against the Detroit Lions after suffering a hip injury during warmups at Highmark Stadium.

Buffalo ruled out Oliver due to a warm-up injury to his hip, and he was inactive for the game. The team confirmed the news via its official injury update shortly before kickoff, catching many by surprise. The 28-year-old Oliver reportedly suffered the injury while warming up for the Lions matchup at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. Notably, Oliver was not on the Bills' injury report heading into Thursday , making the late scratch particularly unexpected for a defense that had otherwise been considered relatively healthy entering the contest.

Impact on the Defense

Oliver's absence represented a major loss for Buffalo's defensive front. In the Bills' 36-31 victory over the Houston Texans the previous week, Oliver had five tackles, one quarterback hit and a fumble recovery, while posting nine run stop wins — tied for the sixth most of any interior lineman — and three tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage on designed runs, tied for the most in the league.

Oliver was expected to be a huge part of the pass rush looking to take advantage of crowd noise to harass Lions quarterback Jared Goff in the stadium's home opener.

With Oliver sidelined, the Bills were likely to employ a heavy dose of second-year lineman Deone Walker in his absence. Buffalo was also without fellow defensive lineman T.J. Sanders, who was inactive for the game as well, according to multiple reports.

Career Context

Oliver has 248 tackles, 30 sacks, one interception, nine forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 77 QB hits in 96 regular-season games (87 starts) since being selected by Buffalo with the ninth overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Houston. The injury adds to a difficult recent stretch for the veteran interior lineman, as Oliver appeared in only three games last season due to an ankle injury and torn left biceps.

The Result

Despite the last-minute absence of one of their defensive centerpieces, the Bills opened their new Highmark Stadium with a 41-31 victory over the Lions, improving to 2-0 on the young season. The severity and expected recovery timeline for Oliver's hip injury had not been disclosed as of Thursday night, leaving his status for Buffalo's next matchup uncertain.