The Buffalo Bills suffered an injury at the one spot they can't afford it in training camp and the preseason with wide receiver Khalil Shakir going down with a high-ankle sprain. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, the injury that the wideout suffered in practice on Friday will keep Shakir out for 4-5 weeks, which would bring us right up to the start of the regular season for the Bills and their opener on Sept. 7 for Sunday Night Football against the Ravens. Do you think Brandon Beane still has Gabe Davis' number?
Shakir, entering his fourth NFL season with Buffalo is coming off a career year in which he notched 76 receptions on 100 targets for 821 yards and four touchdowns in only 15 games. While he's not built like a prototype No. 1 wide receiver, there was a case that Shakir was posturing himself to be the top target for Josh Allen in the 2025 season. He still could and perhaps should be when he does return from the injury. But the uncertainty of high-ankle sprains leaves the Bills no choice but to explore other options, Davis being chief among them.
Davis, of course, was a fourth-round pick for Buffalo in the 2020 NFL Draft and spent his first four seasons with the Bills. In 2022-23, he played in 32 games and totaled 93 catches for 1,582 yards and an impressive 14 touchdowns. However, he left in free agency for Jacksonville, which turned out to be an ill-fated decision. He played in just 10 games, managed only 20 receptions for 239 yards, and then was released as a new regime took over the Jaguars this offseason.
But that now means he's easily and readily available for the Bills to swoop in and make a reunion happen in the wake of the Shakir injury.
Bills receiving depth needs Gabe Davis reunion desperately after Shakir injury
The Bills are certainly hoping that second-year wideout Keon Coleman can make a leap in the 2025 season, and the early returns in training camp from free agent addition Joshua Palmer have been promising. Having said that, without Shakir in the mix, the wide receiver room in Buffalo starts to look concerningly thin.
Curtis Samuel was as up and down as they come, the same of which could be said about another free-agent addition, Elijah Moore, throughout his career. Maybe Buffalo is confident that such a group could be a stopgap option that's enough to survive for however long Shakir is out. At the same time, however, the high-ankle sprain is a notoriously finicky injury that can keep guys out for longer than expected and, perhaps more worrisome, linger after a player's return.
That's where Davis would come into the fold. Not only could the Bills use a player who would arrive with a sense of familiarity with both Allen and the offense to shorten the learning curve, but Davis himself could also use a place of comfort to help restart his career after the failed brief time in Jacksonville.
With that being said, the Bills surely aren't alone in exploring the possibility of bringing Davis into the fold, so if this is a move they're considering — which it absolutely should be — then Buffalo needs to work quickly. Not only do they need to beat the competition with a mild sense of desperation after Shakir's injury, but getting him back into the building feels hugely important at this point.