Bills RB Jones takes helmet-to-head hit

Bills running back Taiwan Jones left Buffalo's Sunday game against the Los Angeles Chargers in the third quarter after he took a brutal hit to his bare head in the end zone.

Buffalo's Marcus Murphy muffed a punt into the end zone. Jones scooped up the ball, was hit once and had his helmet came off. Jones was struck again, this time by Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu in a helmet-to-head blow.

Jones walked off the field with the training staff, and the front of his white headband was clearly bloodied.

The play was called a touchback. Officials did not appear to whistle the play dead after Jones' helmet came off, but Nwosu was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.

Coach Sean McDermott had no update on Jones' condition after the game.

"God, you hate to see that," McDermott said, according to the Buffalo News. "Whether it's our team or their team, it's scary."

Nwosu said, according to the Los Angeles Times, "The ref is supposed to whistle the play dead once he lost his helmet. I never realized he lost his helmet, and when the ref didn't blow the whistle to end the play, I continued playing. ...

"You don't wish a hit like that on anybody," Nwosu said. "You try to play as safe as possible. But it's football, and we all signed up to play this game, so you have to face things that come with it."

The Chargers beat the Bills 31-20 in the Bills' home opener in Orchard Park, N.Y.