Marcell Dareus was not at One Bills Drive Wednesday as his family deals with the sudden loss of his younger brother Simeon Gilmore, one of three victims in a shooting in Alabama this past weekend. The Bills organization has been busy giving Dareus support since news of the incident first surfaced.
"I spoke to Marcell and all of our condolences do go out to him and the family," said head coach Chan Gailey. "He's got a lot on his plate to say the least. I talked to him this morning. I think he'll be back for Sunday's game whether it's tonight, tomorrow or the next day, but I think he'll be here for this week. He wants to be back."
Defensive linemates Kyle and Mario Williams both made sure Dareus knew he was in their thoughts.
"I've traded text messages with him and talked to him a little bit and obviously Marcell is going through a hard time right now," said Kyle Williams. "I think the thing that we can all agree on is there are many, many things that are more important than this game and losing a football game. We're here to support Marcell. I think he'll be back sometime this week and our prayers are with him."
"My heart goes out to Marcell. I texted him," said Mario Williams. "He has a lot going on and I just wish him the very best and we're going to let him take his time and take care of that."
Dareus has experienced great loss in his young life, losing his father when he was six, a grandmother that helped raise him at 13 and his mother when he was 20. Now his younger brother.
"We view each other as family being around each other so much," said Ryan Fitzpatrick. "So it's a tough thing to have him going through that right now. All we can do is offer our support to him and his family and it's obviously a situation nobody wants to get caught up in."
Coach Gailey was relatively confident that Dareus would be back in time to play in Sunday's home opener against the Chiefs, but it sounded like his teammates would understand if things change in light of the gravity of the situation.
"Any time that he's here he's going to lift our team and we'll be glad to have him, but at the same time I don't know what the timetable there is, but whatever it is we'll be sensitive to it and let him take care of whatever he needs to take care of," said Kyle Williams.
