Bills WR DJ Moore Ruled Out of Thursday Night Game vs. Lions With Shoulder Injury, Stinger

DJ Moore's second game with the Buffalo Bills ended before halftime.

The wide receiver went down hard in the end zone late in the second quarter of Buffalo's Thursday night matchup against the Detroit Lions, diving for a Josh Allen pass that fell incomplete. Moore landed on his left shoulder before Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin came down on top of him, according to USA Today.

Moore stayed on the ground grabbing at his collarbone area as medical staff came out to check on him, per NFL.com. He eventually walked off under his own power with trainers and headed straight to the locker room for X-rays. The Bills' team reporting and Amazon Prime Video sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung confirmed this detail, according to Heavy.com.

The injury happened with 2:56 left in the first half, on second-and-3 from Detroit's 6-yard line, according to NBC Sports. The Bills initially listed Moore as questionable to return with a shoulder injury and stinger. By halftime, they downgraded him to out.

What a stinger actually is

A stinger is a stretch or pinch to nerves branching off the spinal cord, according to Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. It's generally considered a mild injury that causes tingling and numbness in the arms and fingers, not a structural shoulder injury on its own. That doesn't mean Moore's shoulder itself came away clean. It's why the Bills ordered X-rays.

The stakes for Buffalo

Moore was acquired from the Chicago Bears this offseason in a trade that sent a 2026 second-round pick to Chicago, with Buffalo also picking up a 2026 fifth-round pick in the deal, according to the New York Post. The move was meant to finally give Josh Allen a legitimate No. 1 receiver, something the Bills haven't had since Stefon Diggs left for Houston.

He delivered in Week 1, catching five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown on eight targets against the Texans. Some analysts had questioned the trade price given Moore caught for only 682 yards in 17 games the prior season, but his season-opening performance had quieted a lot of that skepticism heading into Thursday's game, per Heavy.com.

Against Detroit, Moore didn't record a catch before exiting. His lone touch was a jet-sweep carry that lost a yard. An incomplete-pass target to him in the end zone wasn't even officially logged as a target because the Bills were flagged for offensive holding on the play, per NFL.com.

Buffalo wasn't hurting for offense without him. The Bills led 34-17 in the third quarter, with Allen accounting for two rushing touchdowns and three passing scores, according to NBC Sports. Keon Coleman also went down briefly with a leg injury shortly after Moore left, per Heavy.com, though he was checked out and returned for the end of the first half. Coleman had already missed preseason time with a foot injury.

With Moore sidelined, Khalil Shakir and Coleman became the featured targets, with Joshua Palmer and Greg Dortch rotating as the No. 3 option, according to USA Today's breakdown of Buffalo's active receiver group. Rookie Skyler Bell, Moore's listed backup on the depth chart, was inactive for the game.

What comes next

Buffalo's next game is a Week 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Bills will have roughly 10 days before that kickoff to let Moore's shoulder heal, according to NBC Sports. NFL.com flagged his health as "a prevailing concern" heading into that stretch.

Moore has been remarkably durable throughout his career, not missing a game since 2020 during his time with the Carolina Panthers, according to buffalowdown. Whether that streak survives will depend on what the X-rays and further evaluation show. The Bills had not publicly disclosed these results as of Thursday night.