Prior to last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam had been activated off injured reserve; however, he was not prepared to play in the team’s final triumph.
Elam’s 21-day practice window has opened, so it will take time to find out when he will play, but he did disclose something unexpected.
Elam disclosed to the Niagara Gazette why, in the wake of being selected 23rd overall in the 2022 NFL draft, he was not living up to his expectations. In Buffalo’s third preseason game against the Chicago Bears, Elam was injured by a blow to his right foot’s deltoid ligament after someone landed on it.
During the Bills’ second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Elam started to have discomfort in his foot. Despite this, he wanted to participate and compete for the starting cornerback position opposite Tre’Davious White.
After White suffered a season-ending injury, Elam was essentially given the choice of getting surgery on his ankle or playing through it. This was because the club desperately needed reliable cornerback play.
On November 2, Elam was finally placed on injured reserve, allowing his ankle to recover naturally and allowing him to return to the game and contribute in the best way he knows how. Elam expressed his sadness about the difficult circumstances he found himself in due to his injury and Buffalo’s secondary ailments as follows:
“(People aren’t) in building, that’s the thing. So I don’t really put value into what they’re saying because they don’t know. All I can do is control when I get my opportunity and what I do out there, that’s all I can do. If I make a statement and say this is why, this is that, it just doesn’t really matter. I just have to go out and make plays like I know I can and get healthy.”
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