Inside The Bills

Bills don’t mind that win was ugly

The Bills were more than happy to outlast the Cardinals and win the game, but they weren’t naive enough to think it was an air tight victory.

“There were parts that were ugly,” said Bryan Scott. ”There were those highs and lows, but we said if we stay even keeled and finish through four quarters, and we even had to take it to overtime, good things happen.”

“It was just one of those games that was so up and down,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick. ”We came out here with one goal and that was to win. In the National Football League you celebrate the victories because we know they’re tough to come by. I think winning in the NFL is hard and the guys that have been around for a long time know you take them how you get them and we’re pretty fired up.”

“That was a huge relief,” said Scott of the win. ”The last two weeks, just to have those losses in your mouth, it hurts. You can’t sleep at night. To get this win and to go back home and now Tennessee is up next. This was a start of something very positive.”

Bills bust Cards’ streaks

The Cardinals had some pretty impressive streaks going heading into Sunday’s game with Buffalo concerning home field advantage and overtime. The Bills put an end to them both.

Arizona was riding an eight-game home winning streak dating back to last season. They were also winners of their last five in overtime, until Rian Lindell put a 25-yard game winner through the uprights in the extra session.

Kelsay moves into top 10 for sacks

Bills DE Chris Kelsay put the first points on the board Sunday in Buffalo’s 19-16 overtime win with a safety, and that sack moved him inside the top 10 for career sacks as a Bill.

Kelsay now has 31.5 career sacks and is tied with Jeff Wright for ninth place on the team’s all-time sack list.

No knee brace for Fred

Bills RB Fred Jackson for the first time since his return from a knee injury is not wearing a brace.

Since his return to action in Week 4, Jackson has worn a knee brace on his right knee, but shed it in practice on Friday and is not wearing it today.

Jackson admitted the brace has been cumbersome and slowed him down. We’ll see if it makes a difference today against the Cardinals.

Cards inactives

Here are the Cards’ inactives for today’s game with the Bills.

QB Ryan Lindley
CB Michael Adams
CB Greg Toler
FB Anthony Sherman
LB Reggie Walker
G Senio Kelemete
TE Todd Heap

Bills inactives

Here are the Bills inactives for today’s games with the Cards.

QB Tarvaris Jackson
LB Kirk Morrison
OL Kraig Urbik
OL Reggie Wells
OT Cordy Glenn
DT Spencer Johnson
DE Mark Anderson

Jersey numbers for Snow and Ross

C-G David Snow and DT Jay Ross were called up from the practice squad on Saturday. Here are the jersey numbers they’ll be wearing today.

Snow will wear jersey number 61. Ross will wear jersey number 73.

Also recently signed OL Reggie Wells will wear jersey number 68.

Wannstedt on his defense

The defense has left a lot to be desired the past two weeks and fans have wanted to hear from Bills defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt for answers as to what is going on with that side of the ball. Wannstedt spoke after Friday’s practice.

“The inconsistency has been the most frustrating thing for all of us,” he said. ”We came out of preseason feeling good. There was a transition with new players and a new system and got into the season and felt good even into halftime of the New England game. We’ve had a game and a half of disappointment to put it bluntly.

“Now the good news is it’s basically the same guys we played with earlier in the year. We had a good week of practice, we’re re-focused. We have to come out here and play as good as we can play this week. And I expect us to. I think we’ll play good. I really believe that.”

When asked about the unit’s confidence and whether it can be refortified, Wannstedt believes it can.

“It doesn’t take much to lose confidence in this league as an individual, as a group as a team,” Wannstedt said. ”You can get your confidence back just as fast. And you don’t get your confidence back on Sunday. To me you get your confidence back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You’re going in to take the exam on Sunday and the more prepared we are, the more confident we are, the better we will play on Sunday.”

So when asked how he anticipates his defensive unit will play against the Cardinals, Wannstedt was concise.

“I expect us to bounce back this week and play good,” he said. ”We have proven we are capable of that, both run and pass and we’ve just got to get back to doing that.”

Dockett questionable for Cards

Arizona DT Darnell Dockett is one of a host of Cardinals players questionable for Sunday’s game. LB Paris Lenon was also a Friday addition to the injury report with a knee injury. He’s questionable, but he was a full participant.

Dockett was limited in practice all week as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury suffered two weeks ago. Here’s the status of the rest of the injured Arizona players for Sunday’s game against the Bills.

Doubtful
CB Michael Adams – hamstring
FB Anthony Sherman – knee
CB Greg Toler – knee
LB Reggie Walker – head

Questionable
DT Darnell Dockett – hamstring
LB Quentin Groves – hamstring
TE Jim Dray – knee
TE Todd Heap – knee
LB O’Brien Schofield – knee
LB Paris Lenon – knee

Probable
RB LaRod Stephens-Howling – hip
RB William Powell – head
QB John Skelton – ankle
G Adam Snyder – elbow

C.J. & Fred sharing in game info

C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson have been faced with the challenge of trying to get in the flow of the game on limited carries as they’ve split the workload down the middle. It’s made it harder for both of them to set up defenders on run plays later in the game because individually they’re not on the field long enough. But Fred and C.J. have come up with a solution.

Jackson and Spiller communicate with one another on the sideline between series, so if they’re rotating every other series the back that’s next to go in knows exactly what the defense is showing them.

“That’s the way we have to do it,” said Jackson. ”We’re constantly talking about what we see out there or what we saw on a certain play. I’m constantly telling him, ‘Hey these linebackers are doing this or that.’ Or ‘This D-lineman is playing this.’ And C.J. is constantly doing the same with me. That’s one of the ways we can each stay in the game and it’s one of the ways we’re trying to take advantage of things.”

According to Jackson, what’s even more important is converting third downs so drives last longer and they each get more carries in the game.

“We only had 45 plays last week and nobody is going to get the ball this week if we have drives that are done in three and outs and things like that,” he said. “We have to make a play whenever we’re called upon, whether we get the ball five or six times or 20 or 25 times. The best thing we can do is try and make a play when we’re out there.”

Stevie likes Peterson matchup

Stevie Johnson is always up for a challenge and while he certainly respects Patrick Peterson’s game, he also has a lot of faith in his own abilities on the field. It should make for a marquee matchup Sunday when the Bills faces the Cardinals.

As we profiled on the home page of Buffalobills.com today, Stevie Johnson is looking to revive his team’s pulse. This week Johnson squares off against Patrick Peterson, who is rapidly becoming one of the better cover corners in the league. But if Johnson can turn in some plays it could be the jumpstart Buffalo’s team needs.

“I always here that he’s a great athlete and he shows it on film,” said Johnson. “He can be beat, anybody can be beat. I think it’s going to be a good challenge for myself and also for him to go against me. I know he’s played against a lot of receivers, but with a style like mine we’ll see if he can hold up to it.”

Gailey pleased with tempo

Bills head coach Chan Gailey kept his team on the west coast so they wouldn’t have to re-adjust their body clocks to the time change three times in a week. He’s been pretty pleased with the way his players have practiced this week.

“Tempo has been good,” he said. ”They have practiced fast. We didn’t put the pads on (Thursday). I wanted them to go out and practice fast today and they did. They responded extremely well. It’s just a matter now of us going and doing it on Sunday.”

RB Stephens-Howling hip improved

Arizona is already shorthanded at running back with both Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams on injured reserve, but it looks like LaRod Stephens-Howling will be in the lineup Sunday coming off a hip injury.

Stephens-Howling was limited in practice Wednesday, but a full participant Thursday. Here’s the rest of the injury report for Arizona including DT Darnell Dockett, who is still limited with a hamstring injury.

Did not practice
CB Michael Adams – hamstring
LB Quentin Groves – hamstring
FB Anthony Sherman – knee
CB Greg Toler – hamstring
LB Reggie Walker – head

Limited in practice
DT Darnell Dockett – hamstring
TE Jim Dray – knee
TE Todd Heap – knee
LB O’Brien Schofield – knee

Full practice
RB LaRod Stephens-Howling – hip
RB Williams Powell – head
QB John Skelton – ankle
G Adam Snyder – elbow

Byrd does more in practice

Bills S Jairus Byrd (chest), who was limited in practice Wednesday, did considerably more in practice Thursday.

“He did almost everything,” said head coach Chan Gailey. ”He was limited today by reps, but I didn’t really see any limitations out there.”

Byrd has had a rough couple of weeks dealing with a hip pointer a couple of weeks back and now a chest injury. He’s missed practice time, but hasn’t missed a start.

“It’s been a grind the past few weeks, but as long as I do a little more each day getting out there Sunday shouldn’t be an issue,” said Byrd.

Fred hopes to shed brace

In the end it’s not going to be his call, but Fred Jackson feels the best he has in a while and is hoping he can shed the knee brace he’s had  to wear the last two games.

“I’m trying to come out of it now,” he said. ”But I still have to get cleared by the doctor to do so, so I think it’s going to depend on the work that I put in this week.”

 With Jackson and Spiller as close to 100 percent healthy as they’ve been in a while, Buffalo’s ground game should be able to look more like it did earlier this season. 

“I think that’s going to be huge for us,” said Jackson. ”Anytime you can get guys out there like C.J. out there making plays and myself back to what I was doing last year. We need that. We need to provide some spark for this team and have some explosive offensive plays. That’s going to work wonders for us and put points on the board and help keep our defense off the field.”

Kolb still expected to start

Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb stepped into the lineup because starter John Skelton suffered an ankle injury a few weeks back. But Skelton was a full participant in practice Wednesday.

Nevertheless it’s widely anticipated that Kolb will remain the starter this week against the Bills. According to the Cardinals official website Skelton said his ankle is about 90 percent. But he’s yet to really push and test it. Knowing how mobile Arizona’s quarterbacks have to be with the offense surrendering 23 sacks in five games this season, if Skelton is the least bit hindered by his ankle it’s a risk the Cardinals probably don’t want to take.

Dockett limited for Cards

Cardinals three-time Pro Bowl DT Darnell Dockett was not a full scale participant in practice Wednesday.

Dockett was limited with a lingering hamstring injury. The defensive tackle dressed and played for Arizona last week in the loss to St. Louis, but wasn’t himself logging only 20 plays. Here’s a look at the rest of Arizona’s injury report.

Did not practice
CB Michael Adams – hamstring
LB Quentin Groves – hamstring
FB Anthony Sherman – knee
CB Greg Toler – hamstring
LB Reggie Walker – head

Limited in practice
DT Darnell Dockett – hamstring
TE Jim Dray – knee
TE Todd Heap – knee
LB O’Brien Schofield – knee
RB LaRod Stephens-Howling - hip

Full practice
RB William Powell – head
QB John Skelton – ankle
G Adam Snyder – elbow

OL Wells unlikely to dress Sunday

Having just signed Tuesday and getting his first practice in today, head coach Chan Gailey said it’s unlikely that new OL Reggie Wells will be dressed to play on Sunday against Arizona.

“It’s not easy to integrate a guy this time of year that has no familiarity with your system at all,” said Gailey. ”The great thing is Reggie is a nine-year vet. He probably has heard a lot of different things so he can integrate into the system a lot quicker. I doubt he’ll make it this week, but he ought to be up to speed enough to play maybe the next week.”

If Wells doesn’t dress that would leave Buffalo with just six offensive linemen to dress Sunday counting Chad Rinehart, who is iffy with a calf injury. Typically the team dresses seven offensive linemen for a game, so it’s likely that Buffalo makes another player move with one of their practice squad players, most likely David Snow, who knows the offensive system having been with the club since May when he was signed as an undrafted rookie.

Dockett still working his way back

Cardinals defensive stalwart Darnell Dockett missed the team’s Week 4 game against the Dolphins, but did return and play in last Thursday night’s game against St. Louis. Trying to return from a hamstring injury is easier said than done however.

That’s part of the reason why Dockett played in just 34 percent of Arizona’s defensive snaps in the game. He lined up for 19 of the Cardinals’ 56 snaps in the game. Having played last Thursday night Dockett had the opportunity for treatment for three extra days leading up to Sunday’s game with the Bills. We’ll see if Dockett is back to full health or reappears on the Arizona injury report.

Cardinals have RB by committee

The Arizona Cardinals have not had success running the ball this season and that’s when they still had Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams. Now with a committee approach likely to ensue in the absence of both their top backs due to injury, it begs the question of what the Bills will see Sunday.

It’s believed that William Powell is likely to get the lion’s share of the work with Alfonso Smith and LaRod Stephens-Howling rotating in.

The interesting stat to come out of last Thursday night’s game for the Cards is after Williams left the game with his season-ending shoulder injury Arizona ran 15 more offensive plays. Down 17-3 they passed on every play.

The main impetus was likely due more to the deficit on the scoreboard than anything else, but it will bear watching how they’ll balance what has been a struggling run game and inconsistent pass protection.