| Advertisement |
After reports Saturday that the initial MRI on the knee of Buffalo Bills rookie linebacker Reggie Ragland were inconclusive, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday night that Ragland appears to have sustained a partial ACL tear in his left knee. Schefter added that the team is confident the ligament is not fully torn.
Advertisement
Ragland, the Bills' second-round pick in this year's draft who already been named the expected starter at inside linebacker alongside Preston Brown, was pursuing running back Reggie Bush toward the sideline on a play during practice Friday when he pulled up and went to the ground.
The team is scheduled to get a second opinion on Ragland's MRI on Monday.
The Bills are also without their top pick in this year's draft, defensive end Shaq Lawson, who underwent right shoulder surgery this spring.
With Ragland's status unclear, the Bills signed veteran linebackers Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne on Sunday.
Spikes, 28, last played in the NFL for the Bills in 2014. He was set to rejoin the New England Patriots in 2015 but was released last June as police investigated his role in a hit-and-run crash in Massachusetts. Spikes later pleaded guilty to multiple motor vehicle charges and received probation.
The NFL suspended Spikes for the first four games of the 2015 regular season, but he spent the year out of football.
The 6-foot-2, 255-pound Spikes originally entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick by the Patriots out of Florida in 2010.
Spikes has played in 67 games and has registered 340 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, six forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 16 passes defensed.
Spikes signed with the Bills in 2014 and played in all 16 games with 10 starts. He tallied 54 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and three passes defensed for Buffalo while serving as a team captain.
Hawthorne, 31, spent his first four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and the past four with the New Orleans Saints. He has 12 career sacks and eight interceptions in 111 games (83 starts).
Buffalo also signed tight end Jimmay Mundine on Sunday. Mundine went undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft after playing at Kansas.
The Bills released linebacker Kevin Reddick (knee) with a waived/injured designation and also released cornerback Javier Arenas and receiver Gary Chambers.
