Lady Luck is certainly not smiling down on the Buffalo Bills.
Fresh off the news Monday that wide receiver Sammy Watkins suffered a broken foot, now, defensive end Shaq Lawson, the Bills’ first-round pick in last month’s draft, is expected to miss the next 5-6 months after re-injuring his shoulder, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Lawson is said to have suffered the injury, an aggravation of a pre-existing one, in a non-contact tackling drill.
Shaq Lawson was making swim move on tackling dummy in non-contact drill when he aggravated shoulder injury that will sideline him 5-6 months
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 16, 2016
The Bills promptly announced that the injury to Lawson will require preemptive surgery.
Bills DE Shaq Lawson will have preemptive shoulder surgery tomorrow.
Details: https://t.co/nRPKnzyCzD pic.twitter.com/yXDlAdQFwU
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) May 16, 2016
Lawson’s shoulder was a red flag for many teams heading into the draft with Albert Breer of NFL Network reporting in March that the issue has been identified dating all the way back to the combine.
Per sources, Clemson DE Shaq Lawson's shoulder was flagged at the combine, and he's on the list to go back to Indy for the medical recheck.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 17, 2016
Schefter also reported soon after the Bills had selected Lawson that he would likely require shoulder surgery to address the injury at some point.
New Bills' DE Shaq Lawson will need shoulder surgery that sidelines him 4-6 months at some point, probably after next season, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2016
The 5-6 month timetable means that Lawson is unlikely to make his debut for the Bills until October or November. Given that he will miss all of training camp and the preseason over that span as well, it could be a growing pain-filled rookie season for the edge rusher in 2016.
Image Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
H/T Rotoworld
