Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills signed veteran punter Matt Haack to their practice squad on Wednesday because starting punter Sam Martin suffered a hamstring injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.
To make room on the practice squad, the Bills released veteran running back Leonard Fournette after he was unable to crack the active roster against the Steelers.
Haack was with the Bills for the 2021 season after signing a three-year deal as a free agent, coming over from the Miami Dolphins. Buffalo released him after he lost the punter battle during training camp and the preseason to rookie Matt Araiza. The Bills released Araiza shortly after details emerged of his alleged involvement in a gang rape while he was a student at San Diego State. Araiza was dropped from that lawsuit last month.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said on Wednesday that the Bills were considering more than one punter but landed on Haack because of their familiarity with him.
“Well, we look at everything - Brandon (Beane) does,” McDermott said. “And so there’s probably a lot more names than I even know that he was considering. Familiarity is important and we have a lot of confidence and faith in Matt.”
Martin injured his hamstring against the Steelers after a Tyler Bass field goal attempt was blocked. Martin chased down the loose ball and came up limping at the end of the play. He finished the game but isn’t practicing on Wednesday in the team’s scheduled walk-through.
“Sam’s situation, just not really sure where that’s going to end up,” McDermott said. “And so it gives us some flexibility there, and there’s no really change at this point to Sam’s status. We’ll just see how that goes as well.”
The Bills host the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round at home inside Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
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