Buffalo Bills wide receiver DJ Moore left Thursday night’s 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions with a shoulder injury, and head coach Joe Brady had no update on his status after the game.
Moore went down with just under three minutes left in the second quarter. Buffalo led 21-7 and faced second-and-3 from the Detroit 6-yard line when Josh Allen threw low toward the back of the end zone.
Moore dove for the pass and came down hard on his left shoulder. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes, then walked off under his own power with trainers and went to the locker room for X-rays, ESPN reported.
The Bills first listed him as questionable to return with a shoulder injury and a stinger. Buffalo downgraded him to out shortly after halftime.
The target never counted. An offensive holding penalty wiped out the play, according to NFL.com. Moore finished the game with no catches and one carry for a loss of 1 yard.
The rest of the night went Buffalo’s way.
The Bills scored 41 points in the first game at the new Highmark Stadium and improved to 2-0. They beat the Houston Texans 36-31 on the road in Week 1.
Moore was a central piece of that opener. He caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in his Buffalo debut.
The Bills acquired Moore from the Chicago Bears this offseason for a 2026 second-round pick. His history with Brady was part of the appeal. Moore spent his first five NFL seasons with the Carolina Panthers, and Brady was his offensive coordinator there.
His best season under Brady came in 2020, when Moore piled up 1,193 receiving yards. By his final year in Chicago, his production had dropped to 682 receiving yards in 17 games in 2025.
Brady was not concerned about that decline. In March, he told NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack that Moore’s 2025 film showed the same movement and skill set he had coached five years earlier, and that he saw no drop-off.
Moore is playing on the four-year, $110 million extension he signed with the Bears in 2024. The deal runs through the 2029 season, and Buffalo restructured it after the trade.
Buffalo has several options if Moore misses time. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer handled the wide receiver snaps after he went to the locker room. Tight end Dalton Kincaid gives Allen another target in the passing game.
The Bills have given no public indication of how long Moore could be out. The X-ray results were not released Thursday.
Playing on a Thursday gives Buffalo 10 days before its next game. Should the shoulder linger past that window, the Bills would be without their No. 1 receiver in Week 3.
Buffalo hosts the Los Angeles Chargers at Highmark Stadium on Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.
