Mitchell Likely Out: The injury news is not good regarding Kawika Mitchell. Chan Gailey said he's doubtful with a sprained foot. He suffered the injury Wednesday in practice and was not in attendance for Thursday's session. He was undergoing more tests indicating it may be a severe injury. The team's injuries are all to linebackers right now as Reggie Torbor and Antonio Coleman did not practice again today and are unlikely to play. The good news on the injury front is that Jairus Byrd is likely to play after practicing for a second straight day. The Dolphins added Brandon Marshall to the injury report but he practiced fully. Injury Report. One Returner Policy: Chan Gailey said after practice today that the team will pick it's kick and punt returners and likely stick with the same guy at least for that game. He has yet to decide on who will return kicks this week. C.J. Spiller is on top of that depth chart but since he's the starting running back they may go elsewhere. I would guess Leodis McKelvin would be the logical choice but they do have many options. Roscoe Parrish in all likelihood will return punts. Gailey also confirmed that Steve Johnson is the number two wide receiver. Depth Chart. Game Preview: The new look Bills finally hit the field for real on Sunday as the Miami Dolphins come to town. The rivalry isn't what it once was but the Ralph will be packed and the crowd will be in a frenzy since its opening day. It will be interesting to see how the Bills react and play especially the new 3-4 defense that has been vulnerable in the preseason. Game Preview. Wednesday September 8, 2010 Three Linebackers Hurt: The Bills are hurting at linebacker as Kawika Mitchell joins Reggie Torbor and Antonio Coleman on the sidelines. Mitchell was limited today with a foot injury that was not known prior today to the media. Coleman and Torbor missed practice with a chest and hamstring injury respectively. Jairus Byrd participated fully. Leodis McKelvin and Terrence McGee practiced and are not on the report. Injury Report. Spiller #1: Chan Gailey confirmed that C.J. Spiller is the starting running back. He has shown he is a very good player and has a chance to be for a very long time. He is starting because he has gotten more reps than anyone else and has done a good job, so he's earned the spot. Gailey feels they have three starters at tailback and they make them rank them but they all are going to play and be valuable members of the football team. He will try to use them in a lot of different ways as the season goes on. They do want to be very smart with how they handle Spiller especially early in the year. They want to watch his snaps but it shouldn't be an issue because of the backs they have. Depth Chart. Jackson Will Play: Chan Gailey thinks Fred Jackson will play although he will be a hampered a bit. They did a good job protecting the hand and he is practicing so he should play. Jairus Byrd is practicing and doing better everyday. They will determine later in week if he'll be able to play. Reggie Torbor and Antonio Coleman did not practice today. Torbor is struggling in his return from injury and is less likely to play if he can't stay on the field. Leodis McKelvin and Terrence McGee are back on the field today and should practice fully tomorrow and Friday and play on Sunday. Injury Page. Captains Picked: The players have picked the team captains for this year and they are Trent Edwards, Chris Kelsay, Brian Moorman, Lee Evans, Marcus Stroud, and George Wilson. They picked two offensive, two defensive, and two special teams players to be the leaders of the team. Bills Add Practice Squad Player: The Bills rounded out their practice squad by adding TE DajLeon Farr to it. He was an undrafted free agent who spent the summer with the Cowboys. He is more of a receiving tight end but he gives them insurance at a position that is low on numbers until Shawn Nelson comes back from his suspension. The team has also waived Derek Schouman from injured reserve. He was placed there after being waived/injured on cutdown day. Practice Squad. Media Day: Wednesday is the weekly media day in the NFL as the coaches and top players meet with the media from their town and their opposition's town. We should find out today if indeed C.J. Spiller is the number one back as has been reported. The team hits the practice field after having their usual day off on Tuesday. We should no more about the availability of Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin after practice. We will be updating our injury page with the first injury report of the season later today. This latest news page will be updated with snippets from Coach Gailey's press conference and more as part of our media day coverage. Tuesday September 7, 2010 Fitz #2; Spiller #1? Chan Gailey admitted the obvious yesterday by saying Ryan Fitzpatrick is the number two quarterback. The weekly game release also lists C.J. Spiller as the number one running back and Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch as co-number twos. This may be more of a result of Jackson's injury situation than Spiller actually being number one. A couple of weeks ago Gailey said the depth chart hasn't changed at the position despite the solid play of Spiller in preseason games. Depth Chart. Season Ticket Sales Down: The Bills have released the final season ticket figures and they aren't pretty. The Bills old 43,295 season tickets which is 20% off last year when they topped 55,000 season tickets. It still is the fifth highest total since 1995. Many factors figure in the decline including a raise in ticket prices, the economy, and the lack of winning football over the last decade. Two games are soldout including Sunday's opener. The Jets game is close to selling out but the other four home games have plenty of tickets available. Hopes High For Jackson: Reggie Torbor, Fred Jackson, and Jarius Byrd all practiced again yesterday and there is a chance that they all may play on Sunday. Chan Gailey said Jackson is doing well and they are protecting his hand well. Torbor practiced some but did not finish and Byrd is progressing well. Jackson is the most likely to play of the three. They will see how Torbor practices later this week to see if he can go. With Byrd it depends what kind of game shape he's in. Injury Page. Monday September 6, 2010 Harris Added: The Bills have added Dominique Harris to the practice squad a day after they released him. This move was not a surprise as it was expected once he cleared waivers. Practice Squad. McIntyre Gets Extension: The Bills have confirmed that they have given FB Corey McIntyre a two year contract extension worth $1.85 Million. Top Corners Not Practicing: Three players did not practice today including both starting cornerbacks Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin. McGee had his foot iced up during Saturday's practice but Chan Gailey said it was minor. McKelvin has had a wrap on his hamstring after the Bengals preseason game but has been practicing. Cordaro Howard was also watching from the sidelines today. The two newest Bills, TE David Martin and G Kraig Urbik, were on the field with their new teammates. Two Added To Practice Squad: The Bills have added two more players to the practice squad leaving two spots open. They have added LB John Russell and WR Paul Hubbard. Russell was an undrafted free agent with the Packers this year before going on to Kansas City. He was released in their final cuts. Hubbard has spent the last two seasons on practice squads of the Raiders and Browns. He was a sixth round pick of Cleveland's in 2008. Practice Squad. Brown Pissed: Levi Brown went from surprised to pissed, according to his twitter post, when he wasn't added to the Bills practice squad. He didn't think he'd be in this position. It sounds like the Bills have told him they won't offer him a spot on the squad depsite the fact that there are four openings. Urbik Was In High Demand: It appears the Bills aren't the only team that wanted Kraig Urbik when he was released by the Steelers. The Bengals, Jets, Dolphins, and Broncos also put waiver claims in for the second year guard but the Bills were awarded him based on a higher position on the waiver board because of a worse record than the other four last year. Let's hope they find a diamond in the rough. Regular Season Mode: The Bills are now in their regular season practice schedule as they will be on the field this afternoon for a 2:15 practice session. They have their usual day off on Tuesday before going back to work on Wednesday which is media day. Head coaches for both teams meet with their media and the opposing team's media along with top players from both teams. Thursday afternoon brings another practice as does Friday morning. Saturdays during the season are travel days for road games and walk through days for home games. Sunday September 5, 2010 More Roster Moves: The Bills added two players to their roster, released two, and placed four players on the practice squad. The newest Bills are TE David Martin and G Kraig Urbik. Martin is an eight year vet who missed last year with a knee injury. He was released by Miami yesterday. He has 152 catches for 1,519 yards and 14 touchdowns in 101 career games, including 43 starts. Urbik was a third round pick of the Steelers in the 2009 draft but was inactive for every game last year. He was released yesterday as well. To make room they released Dominique Harris and J.P. Foschi. Harris is a candidate for the practice squad. Four players released yesterday were officially back with the team as Naaman Roosevelt, Joique Bell, Jason Watkins, and Rodney Ferguson were added to the practice squad. It is a bit of a surprise that Levi Brown isn't on the squad at this time. Front Office Page. Practice Squad Today: The players have the day off today but the coaching staff will be busy with the front office assembling the eight man practice squad. Expect most of the squad to be filled with players that have been released by the team. Good candidates include Levi Brown, Joique Bell, Rodney Ferguson, Sean Allen, Naaman Roosevelt, Andre Ramsey, and Jason Watkins. We will have the complete list this evening on the website. When it comes out we will post it for those of you following us on twitter. Saturday September 4, 2010 Edwards Officially Named The Starter: Chan Gailey finally put an end to the charade and named Trent Edwards the starting quarterback. He was the favorite at the beginning of training camp and given all the first team reps this summer. ESPN reports that Ryan Fitzpatrick is number two and Brian Brohm number three. Byrd, Torbor Return To Practice: The Bills got good injury news as they practiced today as they get ready for the season opening game next Sunday against Miami. Jairus Byrd and Reggie Torbor both returned to practice and there is a chance that one or both of them will be ready to play against Miami. Terrence McGee had his foot wrapped in ice but Chan Gailey said it's nothing. Injury Page. Roster Breakdown: The turk was much worse to the offensive bubble players than the defensive bubble players for the Bills. The roster as it currently is (it is never final) has 28 defensive players and 22 offensive players along with the three specialists. Five offensive linemen were cut today leaving the team with just eight players and only one backup guard. They will carry just four running backs including the fullback. There is only five receivers on the roster as well. On defense they are keeping seven along three man defensive line and a whopping 10 linebackers. They are also keeping 11 defensive backs including six safeties. Depth Chart. Bills Get Roster Down To 53: The Bills released 19 players today to get the roster down to 53. The biggest surprises were at wide receiver where they only kept five including two undrafted free agents. James Hardy, Naaman Roosevelt, and Chad Jackson were among the players released. Donald Jones and David Nelson made the squad. The team is keeping just three halfbacks as both Joique Bell and Chad Simpson were released. Brian Brohm and Ryan Fitzpatrick are both staying as Levi Brown was released but should make the practice squad. Keith Ellison and Arthur Moats both made the team at inside linebacker. Also released were Kirk Chambers and Ellis Lankster. Five draft picks, five undrafted free agents, and five NFL free agents are on the roster. Derek Schouman was waived/injured meaning the team will have just two tight ends until Shawn Nelson's suspension is over. Jon Corto was placed on the Reserve/PUP list meaning he's out at least the first six weeks. Complete Cut List. Jackson Among Cuts: WGR reports that Chad Jackson, Ellis Lankster and Chad Simpson are cut as they no longer had lockers. At practice today and confirmed to have made the team by WGR are Donald Jones, John McCargo, Brian Brohm, Kawika Mitchell, Keith Ellison and Arthur Moats. Still waiting on the official list of cuts from the Bills. Roster Rumors Include Brown, Hardy Out: The Bills have yet to officially announced their cuts but sources on twitter and the internet say that the team will release QB Levi Brown and WR James Hardy. They will likely hope he clears waivers and put him on the practice squad. Naaman Roosevelt now tweets he made the team after earlier tweeting he didn't They also reportedly will keep WR David Nelson and release RB Chad Simpson. Nelson was an undrafted free agent from Florida who had a stellar camp and it is not a surprise he made the team. If Nelson and Roosevelt made the team than James Hardy is likely gone. If they do decide to carry four running backs then undrafted free agent Joique Bell would make the team. Our Roster Projection. Cutdown Day: Today is the day that has players all around the NFL nervous, it's cutdown day. The Bills need to get their roster down to 53 players by 4pm. 22 players will be cut unless any are put on injured reserve or PUP. There really are only a few spots up for grabs, mostly final depth positions at wide receiver, linebacker, offensive line, and running back. The team will then get to add up to eight players back on the practice squad on Monday. They likely will add several players they release today. They may also look at players released on other teams to add to the roster as well. They especially need help at tight end and offensive tackle. Everyone is talking about the pending release of T.J. Houshmanzadeh but it would be a pipe dream thinking he would end up in Buffalo. He will have several better options for more money. Check back later for the complete list of players released. It appears local favorite Naaman Roosevelt will not make the team as he tweeted this morning that he will have to find another home. Friday September 3, 2010 Roster Prediction: There were a few roster spots up in the air going into last night's game and there are still going to be a few tough decisions to make for Chan Gaily and his coaching staff. The final few spots will be tough decisions. Do you keep Joique Bell or Chad Simpson? Does James Hardy make the team? Which three quarterbacks do you keep? We give you what we think the 53 man roster will look like. Roster Projection. Who Helped Themselves: Not that he needed to but Trent Edwards helped his case for the starting job he locked up last week. He went 4 for 4 in his only drive leading them to a field goal. Chad Jackson continues to make a run at a starting job with a game high five catches for 59 yards. Drayton Florence may have locked up the starting job with his interception return for a score. Keith Ellison gave the coaches something to think about with a team high six tackles, a quarterback hit, and fumble recovery. Who Hurt Themselves: It starts with Brian Brohm, he will be cut. He finished 7 of 15 for 78 yards and an interception with a QB rating of 34.9. Bottom line is he did not lead the team to a touchdown once in the preseason. He didn't get any help from his offensive line, there play was abysmal and Chan Gailey said so after the game. Brohm actually led the team with 34 yards rushing as he was running for his life. Joique Bell and Chad Simpson didn't help themselves too much in a fight for the final running back spot. They both averaged two yards a carry but again the line was horrendous. Levi Brown got a lot of work in this game and had an interception but did lead a garbage time touchdown drive. He didn't do much better than Brohm. James Hardy didn't do enough to make the coaches keep him and had a 74 yard touchdown reception called back by a holding penalty on Jason Watkins who punched his own ticket out of town. John McCargo had a chance to make the team but hurt it with just two tackles, an offsides penalty, and getting knocked back on a touchdown run late in the first half. TE J.P. Foschi made two horrible drops, the second one resulted in an interception. Latest News Archives |