With the team on its second short week in the past month, head coach Doug Marrone is not letting any unwanted distractions deter his focus from this weekend’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
When asked about the ongoing feud between Browns safety Donte Whitner, who played for the Bills for five seasons (2006-2010), and former teammates Fred Jackson and Aaron Williams to go along with rookie Sammy Watkins (via ESPN’s Mike Rodak), Marrone said he “doesn’t even know about it.”
“What is it,” asked Marrone. “I don’t get into that. I’ve just got to get ready to play. Obviously, they must know each other if they were teammates at one time. I don’t know anything about it. I had no idea.”
Apart from the off-field trash talk, there are some issues the Bills have to deal with this practice. Defensive end Jarius Wynn (knee), tight end Chris Gragg (knee), and safety Baccari Rambo (hamstring) did not participate in practice today, which could limit Buffalo’s depth at key positions.
Robert Woods (ankle) and kicker Dan Carpenter (groin) were limited participants in practice, though Marrone said that Carpenter will “absolutely” be ready to play on Sunday if there are no setbacks with the ailment. Also on the special teams side, the team claimed former Miami Dolphin Marcus Thigpen off of waivers on Wednesday, a player that “could” step in and return kicks and punts for the Bills, according to Marrone.
“We’ve got to get a roster back in, but that’s what we brought him in now: to look at him,” said Marrone. “We’ve got a couple days to last at him, but that was our thought process.”
Compared to Wednesday’s practice that was just two days after the Monday night victory over the Jets, Marrone thought the team was “much fresher and better” in terms of their energy level. That is a good sign on a short week, especially after the game and practice schedule changed for the Bills last week, yet they looked the much more energized and prepared team versus the Jets.
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