With three days to go before facing the Houston Texans, who have the sixth-best scoring defense (16.7 points per game) in the NFL, some key pieces on the offensive end have been found to have ailments.
The injuries for both quarterback E.J. Manuel (abdominal) and running back C.J. Spiller (chest) were discovered earlier this week after both players said they had soreness in those areas. Head coach Doug Marrone said there is no concern that either won’t be able to play, as both fully participated in practice, as did wide receivers Sammy Watkins (ribs) and Robert Woods (ankle).
There is concern, however, for guard Chris Williams, as he did not participate with a back injury that flared up in the first half against the Chargers on Sunday. Marrone said the team is no closer to determining Williams’ status for the game.
“We’re just trying to rest him and see how strong he’s going to be when we put him back out there,” said Marrone.
Veteran Kraig Urbik played in Williams’ place during the rest of his game. Rookie Cyril Richardson, a fifth-round pick from Baylor in last May’s draft, has “done a good job”, according to Marrone, but it most likely will be Urbik playing, though it’s not ideal.
“The problem with Kraig playing there is that he’s our backup center,” said Marrone. “That’s the one thing that we’re concerned about, but both of those guys have been working in that situation. It’s practice. Practice is so much different right now than the games. He’s working hard technically, but he’s going to have some tough matchups.”
With the interior lineman likely facing All-Pro J.J. Watt in pass-rushing situations, the chemistry and combination of Eric Wood at center, Erik Pears at right guard, and whoever lines up at left guard needs to play at optimal level in both the running game and through the air.
For the passing game, while Watkins and Woods appear to be fine, Marquise Goodwin did not participate in practice with a head injury that developed in practice yesterday. Goodwin is currently undergoing the concussion protocol, though he could still play on Sunday.
If Goodwin is not available to play, the Bills will be down to Watkins, Woods, Mike Williams and Chris Hogan as the active receivers. But Marrone does not have “any concerns” about only dressing four receivers because “most teams” only dress four.
The limited participants in practice were linebacker Keith Rivers (groin) and safety Da’Norris Searcy (ankle). Rivers missed the last two games after suffering the injury in the opener at Chicago, and his potential return would come at a welcome time, as rookie Preston Brown is coming off his least productive game (7 tackles after 24 in the first two games) that included issues in coverage against tight ends and running backs.
Marrone feels “good” about Searcy playing if there is no setback before the game, and said the fourth-year safety looked “good” on Thursday from his limited time on the field. Asked about potentially bringing undrafted free agents Deon Broomfield and Kenny Ladler off the practice squad with depth at safety an issue, Marrone said it was “definitely a possibility” down the road, but that Corey Graham’s presence as a fourth safety makes that a moot point for right now.
A prevalent issue during Buffalo’s first loss was the way the secondary was beat by rub routes. Malcom Floyd beat cornerback Nickell Robey on a wheel route for a 49 yard gain on San Diego’s first possession, while Eddie Royal caught a 5 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter off a quick slant in which he cut inside after tight end Antonio Gates cleared room for him near the endzone, beating cornerback Ron Brooks and holding on after safety Aaron Williams hit him.
In terms of being beat on rub plays, Marrone says it’s more of “a matter of technique and decision-making process” than “general schematic process”. However, he did admit communication is “important” in executing coverage in those situations.
“I think what you have to do is you have to do a very good job during the week on that and then be able to carry that over onto the field,” said Marrone. “A lot of times when you look on tape and you see coverage blown from anywhere, it’s usually the lack of communication that occurs on the field. The more your own the field, the more you’re communicating, the better the opportunity you have to be successful.
“From the younger guys, playing and communicating, you like to have a system. I would always say that you have a system of base communication of how you do it, so this way, god forbid, it’s the same problem that if you have to go outside the building to bring somebody in, you have to have those things down. Really the thought process of myself is to be able to plug someone in there, learn the calls and do it, but there is that playing together, knowing what’s going on, knowing what each other likes to do and who likes to be on and who likes to be off, those situations where communication can happen faster.”
While was being the player most exposed in a rub-route situation, Marrone says he talked to the second-year cornerback, and Robey “knows” how to play against those routes.
“He needs to stay over the top on that, but he’s a young football player that’s made a lot of plays for us,” said Marrone. “I said before that there’s probably a little bit of pressing and trying to make a play. He just needs to go out there and play and let the plays come to him.”
At the cornerback position overall, Ron Brooks, who Marrone said “played well” against the Chargers, could “potentially” play more snaps this week. With the talented receiver duo of Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins on the other side, the Bills will need to find the right combination of personnel and scheme in order to avoid some of the mistakes made against San Diego, and thus hopefully get back into the win column.
