The Buffalo Bills are just hours away from their big Week 2 tilt with the defending AFC South champion Tennessee Titans, but will now be doing so without a key member of their receiving corps.
According to ESPN Bills insider Alaina Getzenberg, wide receiver Gabriel “Gabe” Davis has been ruled out of tonight’s game against the Titans. Rookie Khalil Shakir will be activated in his place and make his NFL debut.
Davis suffered an ankle injury over the weekend. He had recently won a starting job in Buffalo and played well in Week 1, recording 88 yards and a touchdown against the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
In two NFL seasons, the former fourth round pick out of UCF has been a solid contributor to the offense. He has 74 receptions for 1,236 yards and 14 touchdowns in 33 games with 16 starts.
That isn’t to say that the Buffalo Bills should be fretting right now. They still have all-world wide receiver Stefon Diggs, a pair of sure-handed veterans in Isaiah McKenzie and Jamison Crowder, and a rising star of a tight end in Dawson Knox.
But that doesn’t mean the Bills can afford to get complacent either. The Tennessee Titans are a tough team to beat and only narrowly lost to the New York Giants last week on a gutsy two-point conversion attempt made against them.
Will Gabe Davis’ absence loom large in tonight’s game?
The game will be played at 7:15 p.m. and will air on ESPN.