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Alaina Getzenberg
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills continue to deal with injuries on defense as coach Sean McDermott announced on Saturday that safety Damar Hamlin and rookie defensive tackle T.J. Sanders are both being placed on injured reserve.
Hamlin suffered a pectoral injury during Thursday’s practice ahead of the team’s “Monday Night Football” game at the Atlanta Falcons (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Sanders is dealing with a knee injury that caused him to miss last week’s loss to the New England Patriots. He will get surgery on his knee after the team waited to see how it would improve over time and weighed the options, but ultimately it did not look to be improving.
“Don’t know on either of ’em really,” McDermott said on if the injuries are season-ending. “Feel a little bit better about T.J. Damar is up in the air at this point.”
Hamlin was the team’s third safety and playing special teams, while Sanders is part of the defensive line rotation. Options to replace them include veterans on the practice squad — safety Jordan Poyer and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips — in addition to rookie safety Jordan Hancock.
Starting linebacker Matt Milano has also been ruled out of Monday night’s game with a pectoral injury that he reaggravated vs. the Patriots. Milano sat out the second half of the game. He originally suffered the injury in Week 2 and missed the next two games.
Wideout Curtis Samuel (neck/ribs) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique) are both questionable for the game. Kincaid is coming off the first 100-yard receiving game of his career last week against the Patriots.