Bills' Mitch Morse out of concussion protocol, should be ready for Bengals

ORCHARD PARK - The Buffalo Bills are hoping that center Mitch Morse can continue his comeback from yet another concussion and start against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC showdown Monday night.

Morse got hurt in the victory over Miami and did not play Christmas Eve in Chicago. However, prior to Thursday’s practice at One Bills Drive, coach Sean McDermott announced that Morse had been cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol and he ultimately practiced in full.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said when asked if he plans on playing in Cincinnati.

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Morse has a history of concussions dating back to his college days at Missouri and his first four NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, so there was some real concern over this latest one, the third he has suffered since he joined the Bills in 2019 and the sixth documented one of his career.

“Right when it happened, you knew that I was concussed,” Morse said Thursday. “And one of the nice things was I understood the process, the program, understood that all the people I talked to, the experiences I have gone through in the past. They’re not going to put me out there unless I’m healthy.”

Morse admitted, “At first it was a little emotional, but you kind of get out of that. And then you get into the protocol and you get into the everyday deal. You start feeling better, you understand that it’s just one of those things. It’s part of my story and my football story. Did everything I had to do and we’re back out there and had a lot of fun out there today and really enjoyed the day.”

Of course, the worry when it comes to multiple concussions are the long-term effects they could have later in life, yet Morse, fully aware of the potential consequences, wants to continue playing, especially in a season where the Bills are true Super Bowl contenders.

“When I signed my extension (a two-year deal prior to this season), my wife (Caitlin) and I, we had some frank conversations,” Morse said. “We understood that this was something that could pop up again, it did, and we kind of dealt with it.

2019:Despite concussion history, Bills center Mitch Morse confident in his long-term health

“I'd had two good years of mitigating everything I could, and this is one of those things, it was just unavoidable. We handled it the right way. They were very cautious with me; I was very honest with them. Had some conversations with people that I cared about, and we just marched on.”

Assuming he does not have a setback, this is a big development for the Bills because it allows Ryan Bates to move back to right guard and sends Greg Van Roten back to the bench.

“We never take those lightly and always defer to that concussion protocol because those are serious and we take those seriously,” McDermott said. “So I’m glad that he was able to make it back and we’ll see where he goes this week.”

Interestingly, the Bills enjoyed their best running game performance of the season against the Bears with Morse not in the lineup. They gained 254 yards and averaged a whopping 8.2 yards per attempt.

McDermott acknowledged the performance of the offensive line, saying it “did a good job of coming off with good pad level and giving the backs some holes and then the backs made some people miss in those holes.”

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Still, getting Morse back is a welcome relief.

“It was great,” quarterback Josh Allen said of Morse’s return. “Back to usual with him. I’ve got a lot of trust, a lot of faith in him. So comfortable with him. I know it sounds weird but even just taking snaps with him. We’ve been taking snaps the last 3 1/2 or four years so it’s extremely comfortable. Obviously the player that he is and the mind that he is as well, it helps out our offense a lot. We’re happy to have him back out there.”

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills center Mitch Morse is out of NFL's concussion protocol