11:06 p.m. ET
Alaina Getzenberg ESPN
BUFFALO, NY — The Buffalo Bills are suffering a serious string of injuries, and no spot on the list has suffered more than second place.
The Bills have added significant depth to the cornerback’s position by signing veteran Xavier Rhodes to the team’s practice squad, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, where two spots currently exist.
Rhodes himself appeared to confirm the news in a tweet Tuesday night to read #BillsMafia.
— Xavier Rhodes (@XavierRhodes29_) September 28, 2022
Rhodes, 32, last played for the Indianapolis Colts from 2020-21, starting in 29 games over two seasons. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings. Bill’s defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was the Vikings’ coach when Rhodes was drafted 25th overall from Florida State in 2013. The three-time Pro Bowler was named a First Team All-Pro in 2017 and is also a former Vikings teammate of Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
Rhodes has started 126 games, recording 13 interceptions and 453 career tackles. He suffered a calf injury in his final season with the Colts.
“We always like to start inside the building [when help is needed]’ said coach Sean McDermott on Monday. “In terms of the guys who work here and work hard and develop. However, if we have to, we will leave the building.”
The Bills’ lack of depth in the secondary stems from the team’s top three corners dealing with various injuries. Top corner Tre’Davious White is on the reserve/PUP list at least until this Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens as he continues to rehab a left cruciate ligament rupture suffered on Thanksgiving Day last year. General Manager Brandon Beane has said that White will need practice time before entering a game.
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“I was just trying to encourage him,” Frazier said of White. “I just need to find out how he’s doing, but I definitely don’t want to put any pressure on him. I want him to keep doing what he’s doing with the doctors and coaches and when they tell us he’s ready to go we’ll be fired up and excited to have him back but just want him goes at his own pace. We’ll hold onto it until he gets back.
The No. 1 cornerback in his place, 2020 seven-round pick Dane Jackson, is grappling with a neck injury sustained in Week 2, while rookie sixth-round pick Christian Benford needed surgery on a broken right hand and about will miss a few of these weeks. That leaves rookie first-round pick Kaiir Elam, defensemen Siran Neal and Cam Lewis, and defenseman Kyler McMichael and cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram from the practice team, who were undrafted from Buffalo and came on after Benford’s injury in Buffalo’s 21-19 Loss to Miami on Sunday.
The safety position was also hit as Micah Hyde (neck) is out for the season and Jordan Poyer is struggling with a foot injury. The Bills added offensive lineman Justin Murray to the active roster Tuesday while offensive tackle Tommy Doyle (ruptured ACL) is on injured reserve.
Frazier said he and Beane spoke Saturday night before the Dolphins game about whether they had previously experienced the number of injuries the Bills see in a short period of time.
“We both tried to remember. It’s part of our game,” Frazier said. “Injuries are definitely part of our game. It happens and you just have to keep going. We’ve been hit by the injury bug, but we’ve got some resilient guys fighting through it… You know, it can happen to any team. We’re dealing with that right now.”
NFL Network was the first to report Rhodes’ signing with the Bills.