Charles Clay Leaves Game vs. Bengals Due to Knee Injury

Buffalo Bills tight end Charles Clay left Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a knee injury. The team announced he would not return.

Clay, 28, went down at the end of a 24-yard catch in the first quarter and was taken into the locker room. He had two catches for 31 yards before exiting and was replaced by Nick O'Leary.

In his third season in Buffalo, Clay recorded 57 receptions for 552 yards and four touchdowns in 2016. It was the first time in his career he'd averaged less than 10 yards per reception.

"The tight end position is important to a quarterback, and you know, when you look at my history, I had Chad Lewis in Philadelphia and Greg Olsen in Carolina," coach Sean McDermott said, per Robert Quinn of Bills Wire. "So I know defensively, taking away a good tight end is hard to do. So it's a matchup game and Charles is a good matchup for us offensively.”

The Bills don't have much behind Clay on the depth chart, so his injury issues aren't going to help bring the team offensive cogency. Without many established receivers, the problem is even worse.

That said, injuries are nothing new for Clay. He's missed at least one games in all but one of his six NFL seasons.