He's optimistic, but Fred Jackson is not a lock to play on Sunday as he tries to get ready for Sunday's game against the Patriots just three weeks removed from a sprained knee suffered in Week 1. Jackson practiced Wednesday as expected, but was listed as a limited participant and made it clear he has some ground to cover.
"There are some things that I liked, but there's a lot of stuff that I've got to work on too," said Jackson after practice. "It's a good thing that we've got a week. So we'll see how it goes, just hopefully continue to get better and work on the things I feel I need to."
Jackson is still getting used to a knee brace that he will have to wear Sunday if he dresses for the Week 4 division tilt with New England.
"No running back is going to like playing with a brace," said Jackson. "It's okay though. I'll have to get used to it because I know I've got to play in it. It's not uncomfortable, just different."
The Bills veteran back was also less than satisfied with his ability to get in and out his cuts when planting and driving off his injured knee.
"Some of the cutting and adjusting to guys coming at me and being able to get in and out of that didn't go as clean as I wanted to," he said. "So something else to work on and hopefully it'll get better this week."
Jackson biggest hope is his knee responds well to the work from Wednesday and doesn't keep him from practicing a second straight day.
"I think that's what's going to determine more than anything is how I'm feeling like the next day," he said. "If I can come out here and continue to work that'll help me get better. But if I wake up tomorrow and it's swollen or too sore to do anything then it's going to set me back."
He said there is still some residual pain in the knee, but for Jackson it's more about clearing a mental hurdle right now than a physical one.
"I think just the strength of it is what it is, just being able to have trust in it and plant on it and get out of a cut like I used to before I hurt it," he said. "Again it could be getting used to the brace and just trusting my knee again. We have a week to see how it goes and hopefully it gets better."
Jackson feels compelled to suit up on Sunday knowing C.J. Spiller is not expected to play after sustaining a shoulder injury last week.
"It's a big game for us, but at the same time I've got to be smart and make sure I'm out there able to make plays for my team and not hindering them," said Jackson. "We've got guys that can step up like Tashard (Choice) did last week, but at the same time it's the Patriots. We need all guys on deck to go out and get a win."
Spiller works on the sideC.J. Spiller is unlikely to play on Sunday, but he refuses to rule himself out at this point.
"We're going to see," he said. "It's too early right now to really give a direct answer on whether I'll be out there or not. If I feel I can go out there and give my team everything I've got at a high level that I was doing before I got injured then of course I will (play). But I'm not going to do anything that's going to hurt me or this team trying to go out there and play at not 100 percent. We'll see how it goes."
Spiller only did some conditioning work on the side with athletic trainers Wednesday.
