The Bills are excited they'll have the opportunity to hit someone that's not dressed in blue or white come this weekend, but Buffalo will likely be without the services of their starting strong safety and number two wideout.
Donte Whitner and Josh Reed do not stand a good chance of playing in Buffalo's preseason opener Saturday at Washington according to head coach Dick Jauron.
"I would say Donte and Josh are probably a long shot," said Jauron. "I would be very doubtful about them at this point."
Whitner sprained his ankle in practice last Saturday, but didn't feel the effects of the injury until the next day.
"I woke up the next morning and it was very, very sore, but I could still walk on it," said Whitner. "Other than that it's no big deal."
Whitner hasn't practiced since with Bryan Scott assuming his reps with the first team defense.
The good news is Whitner confirmed that the MRI and x-rays taken on his ankle were negative.
"We did all that as a precaution," said Whitner. "You don't want anything to pop up midseason or end of the season where you have to go in and have some minor work done, so we checked and everything came back good and we've been doing treatment ever since."
The Bills strong safety said he could have practiced on the ankle Wednesday if he had to, but with the injury still giving him some discomfort the team's athletic training staff preferred to have him rest it.
Jauron has told Whitner he'd prefer to have him sit for the preseason opener against Washington, and the three-year vet understands.
"The thing with that is I want to play, but I'm going to go with what coach says and coach said I don't need to play this game and it's our first preseason game and the starters don't play all that much in this game," Whitner said. "Preseason game three is where we really get out there and play the entire first half and a couple of series in the second half and that's against Indianapolis, so that will be a big test for us."
Whitner said he'd be ready to go in practice next week.
"Right now there's just a little soreness in there," he said. "Just give the ankle a long weekend and be back here Monday morning practicing and ready to go."
Josh Reed meanwhile is dealing with a lower back strain. He did not practice again on Wednesday. Coming off of offseason back surgery in the winter, the team is going to take every precaution to make sure Reed is healthy for the regular season.
Roscoe Parrish is expected to replace Reed in the lineup Saturday night in the preseason opener if he does not dress for the game.
