Buffalo Bills: A.J. Epenesa among the inactives for Week 6

The Buffalo Bills entered Monday night’s game with the Tennessee Titans with no players carrying an injury designation. This left the coaching staff with the challenge of determining who to have inactive for their primetime showdown with the AFC South leading Titans.

One of the biggest surprises was defensive end A.J. Epenesa being inactive for this week’s game. The second-year pass rusher has been a key part of the rotation to start the year and has played 38% of the defensive snaps to start the year.

One of the reasons the Bills may have Epenesa inactive this week is to try and add more size on the defensive line. One of the those players who could be more involved is defensive tackle Harrison Phillips. The fourth-year defensive tackle has missed three games already this season and been inactive only one since Week 1.

In addition to Phillips, the fact that Epenesa is inactive could open up more playing time for Mario Addison and Efe Obada. Both are bigger defensive ends, who once again would likely factor into trying to slow down the Titans’ running back.

One player who isn’t inactive this week is starting linebacker Matt Milano. He missed last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs due to a hamstring injury suffered the previous week against the Houston Texans.

The return of Milano should be a big boost for the defensive front as they will try to slow down the league-leading rusher Derrick Henry. The Titans’ running back currently has a four-game streak with at least 100 rushing yards.

This week, the Bills are likely to use more 4-3 defensive formations to try and slow down Henry which means Milano is likely to be joined on the field by Tremaine Edmunds and A.J. Klein, who replaced Milano in the starting lineup.