The Buffalo Bills will be missing a critical part of their defense in Week 2’s game against the New York Jets.

Buffalo has already suffered major blows to its defense over the past year, but this one may be the biggest of them all.

It was reported earlier in the week that defensive tackle, Ed Oliver, was seen walking around the Bills’ facility in a walking boot, while also using a scooter to get from point A to point B.

At the time, it was unknown what caused it, as he was a crucial part in the Bills’ dramatic Sunday Night Football comeback against the Baltimore Ravens.

However, Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott stated that Oliver’s foot was stepped on in practice, and will now have to miss Week 2. In addition, it may be difficult for Oliver to show up for Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins.

There’s a short turnaround between games, with Buffalo hosting the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football.

That’s two critical games without their premier defensive tackle.

Oliver was a horse on Sunday night, causing a tremendous amount of disruption to the Ravens offense. He was by far the most effective defender on the Bills, recording six solo tackles and a sack on Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson.

But as mentioned before, he had one of the most important plays of the game to contribute to Buffalo’s 15 point comeback in the final four minutes of the game.

Ravens running back, Derrick Henry rushed for 169 yards for two touchdowns, and three separate 30+ yard runs. With the Ravens being up 40-32 with 3:10 left on the clock, in an effort to milk out the clock, they fed the ball to Henry, who was the lone reason why they had such a substantial lead.

That was when Oliver came in. Henry already got stuffed behind the line of scrimmage, but Oliver poked the ball out of Henry’s hands, allowing Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard to scoop it up, eventually leading to a Bills score a touchdown and then a field goal later on in the quarter to win.

With Oliver gone for the week and maybe two, that puts rookie T.J. Sanders in a role where he’s been chomping at the bit for.

Sanders was Buffalo’s second round pick out of South Carolina, and posted tremendous numbers as an interior disruptor.

Over the past two seasons with the Gamecocks, Sanders recorded 17 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, as well as 93 total tackles.

Can Buffalo rely on the young buck in the trenches of a man’s game? Tune in on Sunday.