Dalton Kincaid has been excellent when he’s been on the field for the Buffalo Bills. But he’s just not on the field as much as they’d like him to be.
The tight end who was the team’s 2023 first-round pick put up his best performance of the season in Week 6, with six receptions and 108 yards. But he missed the next game with an oblique issue.
He had another 100-yard game in Week 9, only to injure his hamstring in Week 10. That injury has kept him out three games. But this week, head coach Sean McDermott revealed that a knee injury has popped back up for Kincaid. And that could be very bad.
Here’s a look at Dalton Kincaid on a fast Friday out at Bills practice. Sean McDermott said that the knee popped back up this week as he was rehabbing the hamstring injury. He’ll be limited today in practice. Pic.twitter.com/hoMw7Eq5yy
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) December 5, 2025
Kincaid missed four games last year with a Grade 2 PCL sprain in his right knee. That’s the same leg where he’s had this hamstring issue this season.
Could the two be related? It wouldn’t be the first time a player leaned too heavily on one part of his body while he was rehabbing another that was related.
Kincaid is listed as questionable for Sunday and was limited on Friday during their “fast” session. The “fast Friday” is usually the final practice of the week before a game. It’s unpadded, but it does focus on speed and execution.
Buffalo’s pass offense has been non-existent when Dalton Kincaid is out
Dalton Kincaid looked to be moving reasonably well during the footage we’ve seen from that Friday practice. But he certainly wasn’t pushing himself too hard either.
If Kincaid can’t go in Week 14—and if, God forbid, the new knee injury and old hamstring injury compound each other to keep him sidelined even longer than that—it could spell big trouble for Buffalo’s chances down the stretch here.
Last year, the Bills were 2-2 when Kincaid was unavailable. And it’s the same 2-2 record for Buffalo this season when the star TE has been on the shelf.
The Bills struggle without Kincaid because he’s a key cog in their passing game. When they don’t have him, they’re a bottom 10 passing offense in the league (195.0 per game). When they have him, they’re in the top five range (240.5).
That’s a massive drop-off. And that’s not only because Kincaid opens up the middle of the field for Josh Allen and relieves pressure on the rest of the pass-catchers. It’s because the rest of the pass-catchers, apart from Khalil Shakir, have not pulled their own weight.
Kincaid has missed four games, and his 448 receiving yards still rank second on the team behind only Shakir. Keon Coleman, Tyrell Shavers, Elijah Moore, Josh Palmer. None of have been up to snuff.
Brandin Cooks has yet to prove he’ll be any different on the field, though his positive locker room presence has already been felt.
If Buffalo wants to make the playoffs—much less make a deep run if they get there—they need to hope Kincaid’s knee is okay. And ideally, he’s ready for a huge Week 14 matchup with a newly healthy Cincinnati Bengals squad.
Because if not, they will be as one-dimensional as any team in the league. And not every opponent is going to let the Bills run all over them the way the Pittsburgh Steelers did last week.