Buffalo Bills’ Spencer Brown Reveals What It Took To Get Through Back Injury

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown has been dealing with lingering back issues© X/@BuffaloBills

When you knew you had to get through one more game, the same thing happened to Spencer Brown before the Buffalo Bills' bye week offered a chance to rest his injured back. The right tackle hurt himself against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, but returned to play against the Las Vegas Raiders the following week. Brown later admitted that he relied on medication to manage the pain, and his latest practice absence suggested the injury had not fully settled down.

Spencer Brown shares how he managed his back issues

Brown offered a blunt account of what happened when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday. Recalling the Rams game, he said, “I took enough drugs to sedate a small elephant when I was in L.A.” He added that the medication followed NFL protocol and had been approved by the league.

The 28-year-old stayed on the field for every snap against the Raiders despite the lingering problem. He felt he had played well enough to get through the game, but the injury caught up with him during the break.

“Got to the Vegas game and played pretty well,” Brown said. “And got on the bye week, and kind of bit me in the butt a little bit. So, just taking it easy and smart.”

The Bills had hoped the week off would give their starting right tackle time to recover. Instead, Brown was managing the discomfort as Buffalo began preparing for its next game against the Baltimore Ravens.

He met with head coach Joe Brady on Tuesday and came away confident that missing practice would not automatically rule him out. Brown said Brady trusted him to be ready whenever the team needed him, even if he could not take part in the week's preparations.

Spencer Brown's injury history raises questions

Brown's latest setback followed an offseason in which he had already dealt with another health issue. In July, he revealed that he had undergone knee surgery but expected to return for the start of training camp. His back has been a longer-running concern, with an earlier injury in 2022 requiring surgery.

Speaking about that operation earlier this year, Brown said it had helped, although flare-ups had continued. He admitted that some of his previous training habits had put too much load on his back and that he had since changed his approach.

Wednesday's injury report listed Brown as Buffalo's only player who did not practice. His absence left his availability for the Ravens game uncertain. If Brown cannot play, Tylan Grable could step in at right tackle. Grable replaced him after the Rams' injury and handled the role during that game.