Alaina GetzenbergESPN
ORCHARD PARK, NY — Bills starting cornerback Dane Jackson was evaluated for a neck injury at a local hospital Monday night after a scary collision with a teammate during Buffalo’s 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans. Jackson has full range of motion in his limbs, according to the Bills, and was getting a CT scan and X-rays at Erie County Medical Center. “I’m still waiting for word and obviously I’m praying for Dane and everyone [the Bills’ injured players],” coach Sean McDermott said after the game. he goes from being a coach to just being a person when I’m out there watching him get loaded into the ambulance. This is a real moment.” The inadvertent collision occurred while Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds made a second tackle on Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks with less than a minute left in the first half. Jackson’s head appeared to snap back after making contact with Edmunds’ helmet. “Definitely a tough play. I just saw the receiver still open, just trying to finish the play,” Edmunds said. “A situation that obviously, I didn’t do on purpose. I would never try to do that to my teammate, but like I said … the receiver was still up, I was just trying to finish him on the ground and unfortunately, I end up hitting Dane ».
1 Related The game was delayed for nearly 10 minutes as team trainers attended to Jackson, who was moving his legs. He was then placed on a stretcher and taken through the stadium tunnel by ambulance. Teammates surrounded Jackson as they cared for him, with Edmunds staying close by 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 put our minds at ease a lot,” Edmunds said. McDermott said he had a moment to speak with Jackson in the Bills’ tunnel before the ambulance left the stadium. Jackson, a third-stringer who started the season in place of the injured Tre’Davious White, had three tackles Monday and last week recorded an interception in the Bills’ win over the Los Angeles Rams. After Jackson’s injury, rookies Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam took over. They rotated opposite Jackson to start the season. Damar Hamlin is a close friend of Jackson’s and said that while the moment on the field was difficult, he received an encouraging response from Jackson. “I felt terrible. I felt like one of my brothers was down,” Hamlin said. “And with the severity of how it happened, it made it even more extreme. Because it didn’t seem simple [a] regular injury. But once I talked to him, he told me once that he was good on the field — we had that bond where he’ll let me know if something’s going on, so, I’m praying for him and I know he’s going to be okay.” As for the Bills’ other 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 a first down. Hyde was examined on the field for a few minutes before walking under his own power and into the blue medical tent. Hyde was later carted off the field in the back of a cart. Backup Jaquan Johnson replaced him in the game. “It was kind of a weird play, wasn’t it,” safety Jordan Poyer said. “I texted Micah, he said it’s OK. Dane said it was OK, too. Just praying for these guys.” Bills center Mitch Morse missed part of the game with a right elbow injury but was able to return. Linebacker Matt Milano (spine) and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (hamstring) left the game with injuries at the same time that several backups entered. Wide receiver Gabe Davis missed Monday’s game with an ankle injury. McDermott had no further update on the Bills’ injuries.
