Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins has made major strides in his first two seasons in the league. And while he might not yet be worth what the Bills gave up to draft him (two No. 1s and a No. 4), but he’s still been a quality wide out and weapon for a Bills team just trying to get anything done on offense.
After coming off his first 1,000-yard season it looks like Watkins will miss all of this season’s training camp after surgery to repair a broken foot. Watkins isn’t sure when the injury occurred but the fact that he caught 60 passes for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns with a broken foot speaks a lot about his toughness and the kind of player the Bills have on their roster.
#Bills WR Sammy Watkins will take the boot off his broken foot tomorrow (via @buffalobills) pic.twitter.com/EHwyrbEPZ1
— NFL Total Access (@NFLTotalAccess) June 1, 2016
Talking to The Buffalo News, Watkins said, “(The protective) boot comes off tomorrow. I have to be careful and take this recovery slow. The goal is the regular season.”
Watkins is a natural talent and Greg Roman, the Bills offensive coordinator, knows exactly how to use him so missing out on this camp should cause too much a problem for the season. It may slow Watkins down for the first few games. On the bright side for fantasy football players, he might be available in a later round in your draft.
Gary Barnidge dealing with the dreaded “sports hernia”
It’s the test we all took whenever boys decided to play sports in middle school and high school and one that Cleveland Browns star tight end Gary Barnidge failed. Barnidge was diagnosed with a “sports hernia” and underwent surgery Thursday. He’ll miss the Browns’ manditory minicamp.
A sports hernia is a strain or tear in the soft tissue in the lower abdomen or groin area. It’s scientific name is “athletic pubalgia,” which just sounds completely awful.
#Browns TE Gary Barnidge poised for training camp return following surgery
Details: https://t.co/nuPDCeOlzr pic.twitter.com/VRVxHcemdm
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 2, 2016
Barnidge’s surgery went fine and head coach Hue Jackson addressed the media on it Thursday.
“He (Barnidge) had the best doctor (Dr. William C. Myers of the Vincera Institute of Philadelphia), and he will be back and ready to go at training camp,” Jackson said. “I’m glad that we’re dealing with this now so that we can get it behind us and get him back to where he needs to be.”
Barnidge might miss a few days of training camp, but should be ready to go long before the regular season starts. He just signed a three-year, $12.3 million contract extension in December so the team knows the value they have in Barnidge and why they should be careful, even with such a minor injury. Last year he caught 79 passes for the Browns for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns.
Dez Bryant waiting on results from foot X-rays
Dez Bryant is coming off a crazy, injury-filled year where the entire Dallas Cowboys team went right into the toilet. So you can understand why everyone involved is a little trepidation about the results of the X-rays on his foot.
In January Bryant had a second bone graft added to his right foot. It was his second foot surgery of the season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in the season opening game against the New York Giants.
#Cowboys WR Dez Bryant (foot) had his X-Ray today. I'm told he now can progress to football drills. He's not all back, can increase cutting
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 1, 2016
According to an ESPN source Bryant has already been cleared to work in seven-on-seven drills, but the team isn’t taking any chances. That’s smart because Bryant is second only to quarterback Tony Romo in importance to what the Cowboys hope to achieve this season.
While Bryant played in just nine games last season because of his injuries, catching 31 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns, that’s coming off three consecutive seasons where he caught more than 88 passes, more than 1,200 yards in each of those seasons and double-digit touchdowns. In 2014 Bryant made it to the end zone 16 times and the team rewarded him with a five-year, $70 million contract.
Cowboys rookie Collins breaks foot
While Bryant waits for news on his foot, Cowboys rookie defensive tackle Maliek Collins already knows what’s wrong with him. He suffered a broken foot during organized team activities Wednesday.
The Cowboys picked Collins in the third round out of the University of Nebraska. He was a two-year starter for the Cornhuskers and had 29 tackles, seven for a loss and 2.5 sacks last season. He’s expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks.
