Three of Buffalo's most important starters on offense are working their way back from injuries this week. Even though none of them are a lead pipe lock to play on Sunday, head coach Dick Jauron is staying positive.
"I'm pretty optimistic," he said. "We'll obviously know more (Friday) than we do today."
Marshawn Lynch was limited in practice Thursday after not participating at all Wednesday due to what head coach Dick Jauron described as a bruised shoulder. By no means is Jauron certain his feature back will be ready Sunday, but when asked if he's optimistic about Lynch playing he had this response.
"Yes," Jauron said. "But you just never know."
Lynch participated in individual position drills on Thursday and not much else. With Thursday typically the hardest hitting practice of the week for the Bills, Jauron held Lynch out of contact work.
"We didn't plan on him doing any of the hitting, the 9-on-7 drills, the blitz periods those kinds of things," said Jauron. "But we did plan on him taking some team snaps. He was involved, but to a very limited degree."
Buffalo's head coach sounded more sure of the status of his starting quarterback Trent Edwards, who has practiced both Wednesday and Thursday.
"With Trent he's taken almost all the snaps for two days," said Jauron. "Again you never know how he'll tolerate it, but he looked pretty good."
Jason Peters' sore knee kept him out of practice completely on Thursday after he participated on a limited basis Wednesday. Still Jauron believes his starting left tackle will be ready.
"With Jason, I'm fairly optimistic about him," he said.
Right cornerback Jabari Greer was also limited as he continues to recover from a knee injury that's kept him out of the last four games.
Defensive back Dustin Fox and linebacker Teddy Lehman were also limited in practice. Jauron said Lehman will likely be a game time decision.