Despite the reports that his agent is trying to work out a trade for him to play elsewhere, Bills FS Jairus Byrd is more concerned about getting his ailing feet healthy to play on Sundays.
Byrd dismissed reports of his camp trying to carve out the parameters of a trade with other NFL clubs involving the Pro Bowl safety Thursday.
"From what I understand someone is saying sources, I mean I would like to know what sources they're talking about before they just say sources," Byrd said. "My focus is really just on football right now honestly. My teammates they mean the world to me. I don't want to be any distraction to them like we have a big game coming up and we need to be 100 percent focused on New England and that's that."
Byrd, who was limited again in practice on Thursday, labeled himself day-to-day.
While Byrd has been a focus for those outside the organization after he was unable to reach a long term contract extension with the club earlier this summer, head coach Doug Marrone maintains the veteran safety has not been a distraction to the team.
"Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not," said Marrone. "My focus is on the team and this game. For me, that's exactly what I'm looking at.
"In regards to Jairus' situation, from my standpoint as the head coach, he's out here right now working. He's been working like heck on the field. He knows what we're doing defensively. I still go back—he's been a great teammate, helping everyone. He's been a great pro. That's what I evaluate it on, how he's doing for us, in the locker room, on the field. I have zero complaints about what he's doing."
"Coming back I just wanted to ease my way into things," Byrd said. "A lot of the faces in here are new. There's a lot of turnover. I'm just trying to learn the new scheme and fit in where I can and just soak up everything I can from coach Pettine and the other players."
When asked about his level of satisfaction with the team Byrd declined to comment choosing instead to focus on the season opener.
"I really don't want to just speak on anything as far as that," said Byrd. "I'm here to focus on the team and playing football. That would be something for my agent to handle that side and talk about more. Right now I'm just focused on my feet, getting healthy and giving these guys the best chance for us to win on Sunday against the Patriots."
Byrd, who hasn't been ruled out yet for Sunday, said he's been dealing with his plantar fasciitis foot problem since last season.
"It was just something that happened last year actually," he said. "I played with it last year and things didn't progress the way I liked them too in the offseason based on the protocol that was told to me. I'm just trying to get my feet ready and that's it and trying to help the team win as many games as we possibly can."
"I see a player that's trying to get on this field, and it's just not feeling right," said Marrone. "Jairus and I talk daily. It's going to be one of these situations where he's going to wake up, and he's going to say, 'I feel great,' and then we're going to go."
