The bad news didn't get any better at the receiver position for the Bills. In Tuesday's practice, rookie receiver David Nelson appeared to roll his ankle when he tried to make a cut inside just after making a reception in red zone work and went down in a heap.
After being tended to by athletic trainers for several minutes, he was carted off the field.
"It doesn't look good, but I don't think it's a long term (thing)," said Gailey. "The question is whether he'll get back for the first of the season or not. It's tough on him because he had done such a good job of working hard. He had missed some time and then made it up and had been doing a good job in that respect so I hate it for him."
Buffalo just added free agent receiver Aaron Rhea to the roster on Monday. With James Hardy not expected to play Thursday night, the Bills will once again go into the preseason game with just seven wideouts.
Taking it down a notchThere was a noticeable dialing back in the practice setting Tuesday as the Bills made final preparations for their Thursday night preseason tilt with the Indianapolis Colts in Toronto. Team drills ran at about half to three-quarter speed as the players were in helmets, shells and shorts.
One different element in the practice setting was the number one offensive unit got an opportunity to see some Indianapolis defensive looks run by the second team defense. Later the first team defense saw some offensive looks as well to get accustomed to some of what they might see Thursday night.
"It's a totally different front for our offense. It's a four man front as opposed to the three man front, so we felt like just to give them a little bit of a chance this last day of a look at what the Indy defense would be like since it's so new. So we did that today and then when you go on cards for the offense, the defense always cries and wants offensive plays being run, so you give them those plays."
It looks like the Bills offensive line will be close to being fully intact at least for a series or two Thursday night. Left tackle Demetrius Bell and right guard Eric Wood are both expected to see some time albeit briefly against the Colts. Wood realizes that time is growing short before the season opener, but believes they've made some good progress in the practice setting despite the reduced workload for Bell and himself.
"We're feeling good," Wood said. "We're really confident with the group we have. I think we run probably seven or eight deep where we're really confident with people stepping in. If we can get a couple of more we'll be extremely confident. That's kind of where we ran into issues last year. We had people get hurt and we had a lot of lapses throughout the offensive line. We're all working out here to get better and that's about all we can do right now."
The only question mark for Thursday's game among the starting offensive linemen is Cornell Green, who just began practicing again on Monday after suffering a knee injury in practice last week.
Byrd has physical "complication"There weren't many details on Tuesday afternoon, but free safety Jairus Byrd was absent from practice on Tuesday.
"He had a complication earlier (Tuesday) and I think it'll be resolved fairly quickly," said Gailey. "I don't think it's anything major he's just getting it checked out."
Gailey would only confirm that it was a physical complication, but did not disclose the nature of it. No word on whether this affects Byrd's playing status for Thursday night.
ScheduleThe Bills have a closed walk through scheduled for Wednesday morning before they depart for Toronto. Kickoff Thursday is set for 7:30 pm.
