Buffalo Bills injury updates ahead of Broncos playoff matchup

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills will host the Denver Broncos on Sunday for the first round of the AFC playoffs and have a near clean bill of health heading into the postseason.

Bills linebacker and captain Terrel Bernard missed week 18’s loss to the Patriots and has been cleared to start this Sunday by head coach Sean McDermott. Bernard has played in 13 games this season with 104 tackles, second on the team.

While Bernard returns to play, return specialist Brandon Codrington suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday and will not participate in Wednesday’s walkthrough practice. Ty Johnson is listed as the team’s backup kick returner on the public depth chart. 

Veteran wide receiver Amari Cooper, who did not travel to New England with the team because of a personal family matter, according to the team, has returned to the facility and plans to play against the Broncos. Reserve cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram was excused from practice on Wednesday for a personal family situation. 

Heading into last Sunday, the Bills only had two players with injury designation, Bernard and wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who caught seven passes for 52 yards in the loss. This means, for the moment-Buffalo has just one player whose availability for Sunday is up in the air–Codrington.

Sunday’s kickoff against the Broncos is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Orchard Park.