Buffalo's offensive line got a bit thinner at offensive tackle in Sunday's game thanks to the ankle injury sustained by rookie Chris Hairston in the fourth quarter of the Bills loss to the Giants. Head coach Chan Gailey provided an update on Hairston's status that even the bye week can't help.
"It doesn't look good," said Gailey of Hairston's prognosis. "It looks like it'll be two to four weeks probably so he'll miss the next game for sure. I don't know how bad, but it's an ankle."
Hairston was rolled up on the tail end of a run play on a fourth quarter drive. He tried to get up after the play, but he went back down to the turf and was helped off the field before being carted to the locker room.
With Hairston out the Bills had to kick Andy Levitre out to left tackle while Chad Rinehart stepped into Levitre's spot at left guard.
"That's tough and you've got to give a lot of credit to Andy Levitre to be able to be a little bit of a backup center, a backup tackle," said Gailey. "He's such a versatile player and he can be effective at different spots."
Entering the bye week there is a bit of good news as the prognosis on Bell is encouraging.
"They gave us a positive report on Demetrius and they said he might make it back for the next game," Gailey said.
If Bell could return to the lineup in Week 8 for the game against the Redskins at the Rogers Centre it would allow Buffalo's offense to line up their starting line for the first time since Week 2 against Oakland. Bell has been out with a shoulder injury suffered against Cincinnati in Week 5.
"We'll make the adjustments as necessary," said Gailey. "Thank goodness we've got an extra week to decide all that."
