Buffalo Bills’ Dane Jackson avoids major injury to neck or spinal cord, released from hospital

BUFFALO, NY — Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson has been released from the hospital following a neck injury, with the team saying that he suffered no major injury to his neck or spinal cord.

The cornerback was taken off the field in an ambulance during the Bills’ 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans on Monday night. He received a CT scan and an X-ray at the hospital and is undergoing further evaluation Tuesday.

Jackson was transported to Erie County Medical Center after teammate Tremaine Edmunds inadvertently made contact with Jackson’s head/neck area while trying to assist in tackling receiver Treylon Burks in the last minute of the second quarter.

“Definitely a tough play. Just kind of saw the receiver still up, just trying to finish the play,” Edmunds said. “A situation that obviously, I didn’t do intentionally. I would never try to do something like that to my teammate, but like I said … the receiver was still up, I was just trying to finish him to the ground and unfortunately, I end up hitting Dane.”

Edmunds noted that Jackson gave a thumbs-up before leaving the stadium.

The entire Bills team came off the sideline to check on Jackson as he was eventually placed on a stretcher and taken off the field. The game was paused for about 10 minutes while Jackson was tended to.

Coach Sean McDermott had a chance to speak with Jackson in the stadium tunnel at halftime before Jackson was taken to the hospital.

“It says a lot about the guys, how much they care about each other [that they came out onto the field],” McDermott said. “And the game is important and trying to win a game is important, but there’s bigger things, especially at that moment when your teammate’s down there and just trying to care for him everywhere we could.”

Jackson, a 2020 seventh-round pick out of the Pittsburgh, has been the Bills’ No. 1 cornerback while Tre’Davious White remains on the reserve/PUP list recovering from a torn ACL. Rookie cornerbacks Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam have been rotating opposite Jackson and both played when he exited the game.