As shorthanded as the Bills secondary has been the past week or so at the cornerback position, the receiver contingent matched them Friday. Between injury and absence for the voluntary workout, Buffalo's receiving corps was down to just four available receivers.
"We've been very unlucky at that position with injuries," said head coach Dick Jauron. "Only James (Hardy) was serious, but they've all been nagging and they can't work so we had four guys today and they did a great job. They got a lot of work. We controlled the practice and backed it off when we had to, but they did a nice job of working through it."
The four wideouts that put in overtime Friday were Lee Evans, Felton Huggins, Justin Jenkins and Stevie Johnson. Still sitting with injuries were C.J. Hawthorne, P.K. Sam and Hardy, while Roscoe Parrish, Josh Reed and Terrell Owens were absent.
For Owens it was his first absence in 11 voluntary OTA practices.
Still up in the air
Starting cornerbacks Terrence McGee (shoulder) and Leodis McKelvin (finger) were again limited in practice with both participating only during individual position work. At this point in the offseason Dick Jauron is erring on the side of caution. Whether either defensive back participates in team work is still a question mark.
"I would say maybe," said Jauron. "Maybe. We won't take any chances at all. We have to talk to the doctors before we put them back out there."
Youboty coming along
The news is a bit better for Ashton Youboty (plantar fasciitis). After participating in practice for the first time since early October on Thursday, Youboty did a little more Friday as he was sprinkled in during team work.
Youboty got some snaps working in the slot as a nickel corner with the first unit. Jauron sounded more encouraged about his prospects for next week than McGee or McKelvin.
"(Head athletic trainer) Bud (Carpenter) feels pretty good about him so we're anticipating that maybe he can go a little harder," said Jauron.
HighlightsDefensively, Aaron Maybin got good pressure on a rush around the edge getting a 'would be' sack on Gibran Hamdan.
Marcus Stroud batted a pass in the air that was intercepted by Reggie Corner and taken the other way in 11-on-11.
John McCargo had a batted pass during team work.
Cary Harris had a nice pass breakup in the end zone to prevent a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Justin Jenkins.
Ryan Denney sniffed out a reverse and had what would have been a big tackle for loss.
Chris Kelsay had a 'would be' tackle for loss on an outside run play by Fred Jackson.
On the offensive side Felton Huggins made to solid grab deep down the near sideline.
Stevie Johnson made a diving grab for a big gainer in 7-on-7.
Trent Edwards had a well executed pump fake leaving Lee Evans open down the near sideline for a big play.
Justin Jenkins made a difficult catch over the middle with Bryan Scott tight in coverage.
Jonathan Stupar had a touchdown reception during red zone work.
Offensive linemen Geoff Hangartner and Seth McKinney had a nice blitz pickup giving Edwards the time to hit Lee Evans for what would have been a 70-yard touchdown reception.
Notable roles
Seventh-round pick Ellis Lankster ran with the first team nickel at right cornerback when Reggie Corner moved inside to the slot. Kyle Ward had been manning that role, but it changed Friday.
Cary Harris and Lydell Sargeant got second team reps at the corners.
Steve Johnson, Felton Huggins and Justin Jenkins all got snaps with the first team offense.
Eric Wood and Andy Levitre saw more time with the second unit at the guard spots than with the first unit.
In and out
Not participating Friday were C.J. Hawthorne, P.K. Sam, James Hardy, John DiGiorgio, Jonathan Scott and Pat Thomas.
Not in attendance Friday for the voluntary practice were Roscoe Parrish, Corey McIntyre, Terrell Owens, Josh Reed, Shawn Nelson and Aaron Schobel.
OTAs conclude on Monday with mandatory minicamp running Tuesday through Thursday next week.
