Forecasting Bills' WR room after Shavers' season-ending injury before Broncos game

Tyrell Shavers became the latest Buffalo Bills wide receiver lost for the season after Sean McDermott announced on Tuesday that the former undrafted free agent sustained a significant knee injury during the team’s Wild Card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Shavers suffered a torn ACL during this past weekend’s victory, yet somehow went on to play 22 of the Bills’ 34 second-half snaps. It was a great display of toughness from the gritty pass catcher.

Now, the loss of Shavers now places the Bills in one heck of a predicament ahead of their Divisional Round matchup with the Denver Broncos coming up on Saturday afternoon.

Depleted unit

Along with Shavers, the Bills also lost Joshua Palmer to Injured Reserve due to an ankle injury leading into the matchup with Jacksonville this past week, while Gabe Davis left the game against the Jaguars with a torn ACL and he is now out for the year.

Buffalo’s wide receivers have been dropping like flies in recent days, leaving the team with just three healthy players at the position on its active roster. After Shavers’ injury, Khalil Shakir, Brandin Cooks and Keon Coleman are the last men standing.

Elsewhere, on the practice squad, Buffalo is also equipped with Mecole Hardman. Kristian Wilkerson and Stephen Gosnell. Hardman has played in two games for the Bills this season, while Gosnell and Wilkerson have not appeared for the team yet during the 2025 campaign. Wilkerson was just signed back to the team’s practice squad on Tuesday.

MORE: Bills respond to WR injuries by bringing back preseason star cut by Titans last month

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis (13) is carted off after an apparent injury during the fourth quarter of an NFL football AFC Wild Card playoff matchup, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Bills defeated the Jaguars 27-24. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Who’s it gonna be?

Along with the aforementioned options, Curtis Samuel is also working his way back from injury, as he sits on Injured Reserve but is amid his 21-day window to return to the active roster. If Samuel is activated in time for this weekend’s game against Denver, it would likely mean he joins the other three rostered WRs as active on game day.

But with the Bills dressing five wide receivers far more often than not this season, they would need one more player to fill the void, leaving Hardman, Wilkerson, and perhaps Gosnell, fighting for one spot on the game-day 48.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mecole Hardman waits for a kick off during first half action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov 16, 2025 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bills also could sign a free-agent WR to round out the lineup, but it remains to be seen if they will elect to take that route before Saturday's game against the Broncos.

In any event, Buffalo will be severely depleted at a position in which they were already hurting entering the playoffs. Not a good sign for a passing game that has struggled to move the ball through the air at times this season. Denver has allowed the seventh-fewest passing yards per game (187.2) in the NFL this season.

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