Safety Cole Bishop sustains injury, Bills bring in another veteran safety

Rookie second-round pick safety Cole Bishop sustained an injury to his arm on Tuesday, which forced him to sit out the rest of practice after being checked out by the medical staff.

There hasn’t been much information yet on the injury. All we know is that he left with his arm heavily wrapped and that the Bills have signed yet another veteran safety for depth. After signing S Kareem Jackson on Tuesday, the Bills brought in four more safeties for workouts. They landed on signing Terrell Burgess who enters his fifth season while most recently playing for the Commanders. Like Bishop, Burgess attended the University of Utah. He has appeared in 43 career games while starting in just four. Punter Jack Browning was released to make room on the roster for Burgess.

Signing safeties on back to back days means the team most likely isn’t confident in the health of both Mike Edwards and Bishop. Edwards was projected to be a starter alongside fellow safety Taylor Rapp, with Bishop learning and backing them up for now. After just a week of camp, the plan has shifted.

No matter how serious the Bishop injury turns out to be, the Bills are confident in the future of their rookie.

Bishop was a star safety at Utah, putting up good numbers in his three seasons in college. In Bishop’s last season with Utah he had 60 total tackles, 3 passes defended, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions. He showed great anticipation in coverage, great hustle, and good tackling technique. 

The safety position is open for the taking, with many guys competing for a starting safety role. Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde’s departures resulted in the Bills losing a ton of leadership on the back end. In 2023, Bishop served as a team captain for the Utes and was named Second-Team All-Pac-12.

Bishop also brings versatility, being able to play in various different roles such as in the box, covering guys one on one, and playing deep safety. Bishop is very effective close to the line of scrimmage, recording 7.5 sacks in his college football career, making him a physical weapon in the Bills defense. 

Bishop was looking good at training camp prior to the setback, getting action with the first team defense as a rookie. So far, he has shown his strengths in coverage, as he has batted down multiple balls thrown in his direction from star quarterback Josh Allen. His injury is one we’ll be monitoring going forward.