Bills rookie receiver Sammy Watkins gave the team a scare when leaving Saturday night’s preseason game against the Steelers with a rib injury.
The good news? The ribs are not broken. The bad news? The ribs are still bruised.
The team announced after the game that it’s only a bruise, according to the Buffalo News.
Coach Doug Marrone specifically used the term “contusion” when describing the injury, which is the same thing as a bruise but sounds fancier. The Bills won’t be very fancy if the injury slows Watkins down into the regular season.
“Only a bruise” sounds better than “broken,” but anyone who has had bruised ribs knows that running, walking, moving, and/or breathing can be quite painful while the bruise heals, the story pointed out. If Watkins misses time, it looks like Robert Woods, who was expected to be starter but appears to have lost his job to Mike Williams, would start opposite Williams. The good news is Watkins has three weeks to get ready for Week 1.