The run-up to the Buffalo Bills’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6 was all the rage as the two rivals met for the fifth time in three years. It was a game no one wanted to miss, especially Jordan Poyer.
The Bills All-Pro safety, who has already missed several games this season due to injury, was on the injury report for part of this week with a rib injury that prevented him from flying the team to Kansas City. Instead, he used a car service to make the 15-hour drive to Arrowhead Stadium so he could play, according to Jon Scott of Spectrum News and Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News.
Bills S Jordan Poyer also uses a car service to go back, per league source, after using it to go to KC. While he was able to practice/play after his rib injury against Ravens, the air pressure change during the flight was the concern. Jon first on Poyer who literally went the extra miles: https://t.co/FeTnORP5P0
— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) October 17, 2022
According to Tim Graham, senior writer at The Athletic, Bills’ organization rented a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van to drive Poyer and his family to Missouri for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. Graham went on to state that the condition that currently prevents Poyer from flying with the team is “still healing pneumothorax (collapsed lung)”.
Bill’s source tells me the team rented a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van to take Jordan Poyer and his family from Buffalo to Kansas City for the race.
The condition that prevented Poyer from flying was a still-healing pneumothorax (collapsed lung) from his rib injury two weeks ago.
— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) October 17, 2022
The Bills All-Pro safety has had its ups and downs during the first five weeks of the 2022 NFL season. Poyer had defended four interceptions and six passes, along with 12 tackles, in the first five weeks of the season. He was also named Week 4 AFC Defensive Player of the Week – a title that had eluded the 10-year veteran until this season.
Poyer secured Buffalo’s victory in Baltimore when he read quarterback Lamar Jackson’s eyes and sprinted halfway through the end zone to jump in front of wide receiver Devin Duvernay to get Jackson’s pass. Poyer’s choice gave Buffalo the ball at the 25-yard line to set up their game-winning drive.
But the great game had a price. Poyer looked like he was in pain on the sidelines as quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills attack took over. It was later reported that he had been given X-rays in the locker room after the game, but Poyer played it off and said it would be fine and the wind would knock him out.
However, Poyer appeared on the injury list a day later with a “ribs injury” and was a DNP all week before head coach Sean McDermott banned him for Week 5 when the Bills hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This week, as Buffalo prepared for yet another Kansas City rematch, Poyer was limited in practice for most of the week before becoming a full-fledged competitor on Friday. After a full week of training, the Bills’ safe start was back in play as Buffalo listed him as active on Sunday morning.
What was only said after Graham’s post-match report was that while Poyer had been allowed to play football – a crash sport – he was not allowed to fly. While no details were given, it was believed that Poyer’s injury could have included cracked or bruised ribs and that the pressurized air in a plane at high altitude may have exacerbated the injury. That meant the safety couldn’t get to the team on Saturday afternoon as they flew to Kansas City. Hence the ride.
Now, of course, he has to endure the 15-hour journey back to Orchard Park.