Players in Buffalo's locker room know not to doubt defensive co-captain Donte Whitner. After coming through Thursday's pads practice with his teammates, Whitner's head coach is a bit more encouraged than he was on Wednesday.
"Donte had another good day so we're a little bit optimistic, but we've got a ways to go and that's a good thing too," said Jauron in reference to the Monday night game.
Whitner was getting treatment after practice and was not available for comment.
Range of motion in his shoulder does not appear to be an issue as Whitner was signaling to members of the coaching staff to throw passes high to him during individual position drills so he could reach over his head to practice interceptions.
"That has not been an issue really," said Jauron of Whitner's range of motion. "Certainly when he first hurt it, it was, but it hasn't (been) in the last three to five days."
Whitner is only a week and a half removed from a severe shoulder separation that in many cases takes four to six weeks to fully heal. But even Whitner's head coach could not deny that his safety's recovery is moving in a positive direction even though Thursday is typically the most physically demanding practice of the week.
"There was a little more banging around (Thursday) so we don't know," said Jauron. "We'll just see how that shoulder feels (Friday). We're not overly optimistic, but there's some optimism there."
