Buffalo Injury Update: Can Banged-Up Bills Stop Titans RB Derrick Henry?

At this moment, the Buffalo Bills are a bit shy at defensive tackle, with Ed Oliver and Tim Settle not practicing at midweek - a rather imperfect piece of timing as the Bills in Week 2 face Derrick Henry on Monday night.

“It hasn’t just been our defense,'' Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said, reflecting on the Tennessee Titans star running back's history against the Bills. "I’ll give them credit; they have an elite player there and they use him well.

"We have to do a better job of controlling the line of scrimmage. Sometimes that takes 11 guys to do that.”

And the job will be that much more difficult depending on the availability of Oliver (ankle) and Settle). Behind them at defensive tackle, the Bills have only Jordan Phillips and Daquan Jones (not counting practice-squadders Brandin Bryant and C.J. Brewer and the just-added Prince Emili).

The Titans (0-1) are powered by one of the NFL’s most muscular weapons in Henry, who rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns last season on "Monday Night Football' versus Buffalo..

McDermott said the injured Bills are considered “day to day,” with full sessions scheduled for Thursday and Saturday leading up to the Monday game.

Oliver was in attendance at practice briefly on Wednesday with his right ankle heavily taped.

The Bills won’t be fooled by the fact that Henry wasn’t dominant in the Titans opener last week against the New York Giants, as he ended up rushing for just 82 yards on 21 carries with a fumble in a last-second loss to the Giants, now coached by former Buffalo coordinator Brian Daboll.

Meanwhile, the Bills can build on the confidence gained by the Week 1 win at the Rams, with Buffalo holding Los Angeles to just 52 yards on the ground.

The Bills, however, know that the perennial rushing-champ contender Henry is a different-level runner.

And they know they’ll need all possible help upfront to slow him.