Buffalo's secondary is slowly but surely returning to full strength. Though Leodis McKelvin is lost for the season, at least one of Buffalo's starting safeties will be available after a five-game absence in Bryan Scott. Fellow safety Donte Whitner is also back on the practice field, but isn't ready to declare himself back.
"I've been doing a lot of things for a couple of days," said Whitner after practice Monday. "It feels pretty good when I wake up. It's just getting back in the swing of things. I miss it. I miss these guys, miss being out there. I did a couple of things out there (Monday). It felt pretty good. We'll see when we get back out there Wednesday."
Whitner has been dealing with a painful ankle injury and driving off the ankle, a necessity for a defensive back, initially proved difficult. But he appeared to move well in practice Monday. Still he wants to see how the ankle holds up through the course of the week.
"I don't know about expecting to play," said Whitner. "I'm not 100 percent. We'll see after practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday."
The Bills safety has made a point of staying in tune with Buffalo's defensive game plans each week attending all team meetings despite sitting out the past two games after sustaining the injury against the Jets in Week 6. He's been proud of the job turned in by Jairus Byrd and George Wilson with he and Scott out of the lineup.
"We take pride in when a guy goes down other guys get in and play well," said Whitner. "That's what has been going on in the secondary and the guys have been doing really well on the back end. We don't want to curse ourselves. We want to keep working and pick up where we left off last game."
Buffalo's secondary had two more interceptions courtesy of rookie Jairus Byrd, who doesn't figure to be coming out of the lineup no matter what veterans are healthy. Whitner, however, is confident the coaching staff will find a way to get both himself and Scott back on the field.
"I feel there will be instances where we're on the field at the same time," said Whitner. "Whether it's Bryan (Scott) playing linebacker or me coming down in the box and playing linebacker, we're doing some things in order to keep players that make plays on the football field. That's what the coaches are doing and I commend them for that."
McGee recovering well
Another member of Buffalo's secondary in limbo this week is Terrence McGee. After undergoing a knee scope to address a torn meniscus last week the Bills' number one corner is hoping he's able to return to the lineup without missing a game. He intends to try and practice Wednesday.
"It's coming along good," said McGee. "They said it would probably be a 10-day recovery process or whatever. I'll be out there Wednesday so basically Wednesday through Friday will let me know what I can and cannot do."
McGee has not missed a start this season even though he had to play with the condition in his knee for the past four games.
If both McGee and Whitner are cleared to play along with Scott, it will be the healthiest Buffalo's secondary has been since Week 3.
