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Check out the weekend football action in these video previews:
The Bills vs. the Houston Texans, with News experts Mark Gaughan, Allen Wilson and Jerry Sullivan is available by clicking on this link.
The week in the NFL by Associated Press football writer Barry Wilner is here.The week in college football by Associated Press experts is here.
The Bills added defensive end Chris Kelsay to the injury list on Thursday when he showed up with a sore back. He was held out of practice, but will play on Sunday.
Quarterback Trent Edwards (concussion) was able to do a little bit more than he did on Wednesday, but has already been ruled out for Sunday's game.
It looks like safety Donte Whitner (ankle), tight end Shawn Nelson (migrane head ache), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee), fullback Corey McIntyre (knee) and right tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle) will sit out this Sunday. None of the players have practiced this week.
Cornerback Terrence McGee (knee) and safety Bryan Scott (ankle) were limited.
Meanwhile in Houston, the Texans are feeling a lot better about All-Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson (bruised lung) playing on Sunday after he went through a limited practice on Thursday. He didn't participate at all on Wednesday.
It was also good news for the Texans' defense as Pro Bowl middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans (groin) and cornerback Dunta Robinson (hamstring) practiced fully after being limited on Wednesday. The two biggest question marks among the defensive starters are rookie linebacker Brian Cushing (foot) and free safety Eugene Wilson (groin). Neither has practiced this week, though the Texans haven't ruled them out.
Cushing, a guy many people thought the Bills should have drafted instead of unproductive defensive end Aaron Maybin, leads the Texans and all NFL rookies in tackles with 56 (33 solo). Cushing was named AFC defensive player of the week after registering nine tackles, two forced fumbles, one interception and a half sack, during a Week Six win at Cincinnati.
---Allen Wilson
Bills safety Jairus Byrd, whose five interceptions rank second in the NFL, has been named the league's defensive rookie of the month for October. The only other Bills players to receive this honor were cornerback Leodis McKelvin (November, 2008), safety Donte Whitner (September, 2006), middle linebacker Sam Cowart (October, 1998) and outside linebacker Gabe Northern (November, 1996).
It's easy to see why the NFL chose Byrd, whose five interceptions in the month are the most by a rookie since Chicago's Mark Carrier did it in 1990. Byrd has two interceptions in each of the last two games, making him the first rookie to do that Dallas cornerback Everson Walls all the way back in 1981.
The Bills were hoping Byrd would eventually become a starter when they drafted him in the second round out of Oregon, but it's safe to say they didn't expect this kind of production so soon. Now it looks like he'll be in the starting lineup for a very long time.
---Allen Wilson
The Bills announced that owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. will receive his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring in a ceremony at halftime of Sunday's game against Houston. Fellow HOF Class of 2009 inductee Bruce Smith will receive his ring at halftime of the Miami game on Nov. 29. The presentation of the HOF ring at a game in the fall is part of the Hall's tradition in honoring its inductees. The Hall had announced that Wilson was going to get his ring at halftime of the Cleveland game three weeks ago but that ceremony never came off. Wilson informed the Hall the Friday before the game that he did not want to do it that day. THis time it's on, the Bills say.
---Mark Gaughan
Terrell Owens gave another thoroughly candid, forward-looking, generally upbeat interview today in the face of the struggles of the Buffalo Bills' offense.
Asked what he makes of his receiving numbers this season, Owens said: "I mean, they're pathetic to be honest. Definitely, for myself it's very very frustrating. I hear a lot of people saying I've hit the wall. I can't play any more, this and that. I mean, I know I can play. but that's the thing. I understand what's going on with this team. From a team standpoint, we're going to have to do the little things to help win games. We know we've got a lot of rookies on the offensive line. We've got a lot of injuries, a lot of new guys filling in. So we've got a lot of first-year guys on the front line. Teams are knowing that and scheming and pinning their ears back and bringing a lot of pressure, so that's not allowing us to really throw the ball downfield and get a lot of those timing patterns in as we would like. So that's why we have to take advantage of those opportunities as you saw two weeks ago when Lee caught a slant and went to the house."
Owens is off to the slowest start of his career as a starter, with 18 catches for 242 yards. Of course, just about everybody on the Bills' offense aside from Fred Jackson is off to the slowest starts in their careers.
Owens joked about his goal for the season: "I've been looking at my stats compared to Roy E. Williams’ stats over there in Dallas, and my goal is to have better stats than him at the end of the season."
Despite all the questions about the Bills' struggles, Owens reamined non-defensive and upbeat:
"It's just a matter of time before I have my day," he said. "Other than that, we're winning and our main goal here this weekend is to try to go to the bye with a win, 4-4 and even."
---Mark Gaughan
Bills quarterback Trent Edwards said he was limited in practice today and still is limited in the amount of full physical activity in which he's participating. But he said he is felling better after his concussion of 10 days ago.
He indicated the after-effects of the concussion aren't completely gone. Asked if he's having lingering effects, Edwards said: “Not too much. Slowly but surely they’re all kind of going away. I’m happy with the medical attention I’m getting and the training staff here. So in terms of the help and the information I’m getting from those guys it’s been great so far.”
Edwards was reluctant to get specific about the severity of headaches he encountered after the blow to the head he received against the New York Jets. Is he concerned about getting his starting job back after the bye week?
“Honestly that’s not on the top of my mind right now," Edwards said. “I have a lot to think about in terms of just getting healthy and helping the team win. We have a big game on Sunday and I’m going to do everything I can this week to help Ryan out just like he did these past couple of weeks for me. And that’s my role here and my responsibility this week."
---Mark Gaughan
Bills punter Brian Moorman was named AFC special teams player of the week. Moorman punted eight times vs. Carolina for a 43.5-yard net average and put four punts inside the 20 yard line. Moorman ranks fifth in the NFL in net average at 41.1 yards. Oakland's Shane Lechler leads at 45.0. Moorman needs to build up his stats the next several weeks because his numbers usually take a hit the last month of the season punting in Buffalo's weather. He catches a bit of a break this year because he's indoors on Dec. 3 in Toronto and he's indoors on Dec. 27 at Atlanta.
---Mark Gaughan
Trent Edwards was practicing with the Bills today and appeared to be working as the No. 3 quarterback in the individual passing rotation. Coach Dick Jauron said Monday that Edwards was not expected to serve in any capacity for this week's game against the Texans.
Not on the field during the individual drills were defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee), tight end Shawn Nelson (illness), tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle) and fullback Corey McIntyre (unknown). Safety Donte Whitner (ankle) was watching but wasn't participating. Safety Bryan Scott (ankle) appeared to be working fully.
---Mark Gaughan
The Bills' workout of journeyman quarterback Patrick Ramsey by all indications was a case of the team doing its due diligence. The Bills bring in a handful-to-a-slew of free-agent prospects almost every Tuesday during the season. They usually bring in a bunch in what amounts to a mini midseason minicamp during the bye week. That probably will take place next week. They're not planning on switching third-string quarterbacks. Gibran Hamdan is safe. We'll have an update on Trent Edwards later today after practice. He's scheduled to do some football work today. The Bills are working in the fieldhouse.
---Mark Gaughan
