Trent Edwards is slowly but surely returning to a full slate of work this week now 10 days removed from his concussion suffered in Week 6 against the Jets. The quarterback rejoined his teammates on the practice field for the first time Wednesday.
"I feel good," Edwards said. "It's good to be back here. I wasn't here last week and it was kind of lonely at the house. But I feel a lot better. I've gotten better each day and I'm happy with where things are at."
Edwards described himself as limited in practice as he appeared to serve as the third quarterback in practice Wednesday.
"He took a few snaps, but it was mostly individual work," said head coach Dick Jauron. "He didn't do any team work or any of the look squad drills, but that was kind of planned. It looked to me like he felt fine. He moved around fine and it was good to have him back. It was good for him to be back. I think he felt good being out there."
He did not participate in any team activities last week as he only made trips to One Bills Drive to meet with team physicians. This week he's doing considerably more, but is still taking a slow and steady approach to avoid a recurrence of after effects.
"Slowly but surely they're all kind of going away," said Edwards of his post-concussion symptoms. "I'm happy with the medical attention I'm getting and the training staff here. So in terms of the help and the information I'm getting from those guys it's been great so far."
Not serving the team in any capacity at the quarterback position Sunday is a fact Edwards is struggling to accept. He wants to get back on the field. At the same time he realizes he has to follow the team's post-concussion protocol.
"It's really not up to me to be honest, it's up to the medical staff," said Edwards. "I'm just listening to those guys and trusting them. They've been doing this for a long period of time and they've seen many cases like I have so I'm just kind of listening to them right now."
Edwards does assure that he will not be gun shy when he steps back on the field for a game coming off his second concussion in a calendar year.
"It's the same as any other injury for me at least," he said. "I faced the same situation last year. It's an injury and once you get past it there isn't any looking back. And any time you look back it's not going to help you out. I'm going to be able to do that just like I did last year."
Last season Edwards had the benefit of a bye week and did not miss a game. And when he returned he arguably had the best game of his career going 25-30 passing for 261 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 114 in a win over San Diego.
Edwards will again benefit with another bye week this time around and when his team takes the field again he will be a month removed from his concussion.
The question is whether or not he'll be re-inserted into the lineup when healthy. Head coach Dick Jauron said Monday that the team will "cross that bridge when we come to it."
And for Edwards it's not something he's concerned with knowing he has more pressing issues to address.
"Honestly that's not on the top of my mind right now," he said. "I have a lot to think about in terms of just getting healthy and helping the team win. We have a big game on Sunday and I'm going to do everything I can this week to help Ryan out just like he did these past couple of weeks for me. And that's my role here and my responsibility this week."
