Ed Oliver, the Buffalo Bills standout defensive tackle, injured his hip during pregame warmups Thursday night and was a surprise inactive for the Bills' game against the Detroit Lions.
The Bills are likely to employ a heavy dose of second-year lineman Deone Walker in Oliver's absence. He had a sack and six tackles last week.
Last Sunday, in the Bills' 36-31 victory over the Houston Texans, Oliver, a centerpiece of the Bills' defense, had five tackles, one quarterback hit and a fumble recovery.
Oliver had nine run stop wins, according to ESPN Analytics/NFL Next Gen Stats, tied for the sixth most of any interior lineman. And he had three tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage on designed runs, tied for the most in the league.
Oliver is a huge part of the pass rush that was expected to take advantage of crowd noise to harass Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions are likely to lean heavily on running back Jahmyr Gibbs, running behind a banged-up offensive line. Gibbs had 156 yards and two touchdowns on 29 rushes in the Lions' overtime victory over the Saints last Sunday. With deafening crowd noise expected for the opening of the Bills' new Highmark Stadium on Thursday making it difficult for the Detroit offense to communicate, the rushing attack is likely to be critical.
Oliver has 30 sacks in eight seasons with the Bills. He was the No. 9 pick in the 2019 draft. The Bills do have recent experience playing without Oliver, though. He played in only three games in 2025. The Bills are also without defensive tackle T.J. Sanders.
