ORCHARD PARK - Coach Sean McDermott said Friday morning that the only player who is ruled out for Sunday’s AFC East showdown against the Miami Dolphins is special teams contributor Reggie Gilliam.

McDermott said that wide receivers Amari Cooper and Curtis Samuel, linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Christian Benford, will all have a chance to play. The expectation is they will be listed as questionable when the final injury report is released later Friday.

“We’ll have to see with all four of those guys, from TB, Curtis, Amari, Christian, we’ve got some moving pieces here late in the week,.” McDermott said.

UPDATE: The Bills received some troubling news Sunday as both wide receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Christian Benford - who were listed as questionable - are not going to play against the Dolphins. Cooper got hurt last week in Seattle, while Benford suffered his injury during the practice week and was a limited participant, but it looked like both were going to be able to play.

Terrel Bernard injury

Bernard has already endured a tough season as he has missed the equivalent of about four full games due to pectoral muscle and ankle injuries, and when he’s not on the field, the defense is not quite the same with Baylon Spector in his place.

Sunday against the explosive Dolphins, not having Bernard would be problematic because Tua Tagovailoa is back from his concussion and he can certainly take advantage of Spector and second-year linebacker Dorian Williams at the second level of the defense.

Not having Bernard might force the Bills back into more dime defense, something they used extensively last week in Seattle with Bernard missing.

Christian Benford injury

Benford would also be a huge loss for the pass defense because he has been playing at a Pro Bowl level this season. He suffered a wrist injury in the victory over Seattle last week and if he can’t play, that likely means 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam would get the start.

Curtis Samuel injury

Like Bernard, Samuel has endured some injury struggles of his own, partly why he has given the Bills almost no production in his first season with the team after signing a three-year, $24 million free agent contract.

Samuel battled turf toe in training camp and missed the entire preseason, and while McDermott said the injury was not an issue when the regular season began, Samuel had the lowest snap among wide receivers prior to Amari Cooper joining the team, and he has just 12 catches on 18 targets for 92 yards with only two of those receptions resulting in first downs in the seven games he has played.

Amari Cooper injury

Cooper suffered a wrist injury in last week’s 31-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, a game in which he played 38 snaps but was targeted just twice and caught one for three yards.

If the Bills do not have Cooper and Samuel, they will probably have to elevate a wide receiver from the practice squad. Teams can elevate players three times from their practice squad, and the Bills earlier this season used one elevation on Tyrell Shavers and one on Jalen Virgil. KH Hamler and Deon Cain are two other wide receivers on the practice squad.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills injury report update: 4 key players' status up in the air