“He was a good dude. When I met him he introduced himself and he wasn’t a veteran that tried to overpower rookies,” said Anderson. ”He taught me a lot about being a professional with work ethic and I commend him for that. He’s a great guy.”

When it comes to Hall of Fame discussion, Anderson sees Urlacher as a shoo-in.

“From what I saw I think he’s got to be a first ballot (Hall of Famer),” Anderson said. ”He’s been in the league for 13 years and playing at a high level. He basically controlled that whole defense. Whatever he said is what we did. He was like a coach out there.”

Anderson felt that Urlacher, among the current Bears, was most revered by the Chicago fans.

“Urlacher, he was Chicago,” said Anderson. “If you ask me personally they should retire his jersey. He meant so much to the whole city. But when I think of Urlacher I think of a hard worker and somebody that I would like to model my game after. I was just glad I had the privilege to play with him and I wish him the best.”

“You know me, but that’s tough for any player,” said Anderson. ”Anybody that’s a competitor you want to be on the field. They brought you here for a reason so you want to help the team out. It was real tough, a lot of hard work and a lot of adversity, so I kind of had to stay focused and try to stay healthy.”

Anderson is eager to get back up to full speed, especially after seeing the plans for Buffalo’s defense under coordinator Mike Pettine.

“Shoot it was a great deal bringing this coaching staff over to this defense,” said Anderson. ”We’ve got great playmakers on this team. You’re going to see a lot of guys do a lot of different things. You can already see it with guys flying around making plays. It’s going to be fun.”

1 - Hi Chris,

I enjoy your column and follow it virtually every week. Thank you for the good work. The Bills tend to steal defeat from the opponents during the last minute of the game. What is the strategy to address this issue from the new coaching staff?

Regards,
C.J. Wong

CB: Well the first step has been an ultra-competitive and demanding offseason conditioning program. To a man, every player has said the program has been extremely challenging. It’s designed to have the players properly conditioned for fast-paced play and to have some gas left in the tank come the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

I think the personnel department made a point of adding players that not only had talent, but a track record of toughness in an effort to add some grit to the roster. These are initial steps, but they will help the team’s fortunes late in games.

2 – Chris:
Thanks for all the great insight you provide.  I have a few questions for you:

1)  I know the Bills released John Potter last year. Can you tell me if he signed with anyone, and why didn’t the Bills entertain bringing him back for kicking competition at camp?
2)  I feel Robert Woods is a great addition to this team and he reminds me of former # 1 draft pick in 1979,  Jerry Butler.   In your opinion, are there similarities between them?

3)  In a recent radio interview Bills (DE) Mark Anderson sounded as if he is still having knee issues, and he didn’t sound too comfortable moving to the linebacker spot.  I know the Bills are building this roster with the idea of players contributing in multiple position on defense.  Will the Bills keep him around just to be a specialty rusher, or could he be released before or during training camp?
Thanks
Joe

Blasdell

CB: Potter to my knowledge is not in the league right now. The main reason he wasn’t brought back was because he was a kickoff specialist only. He wasn’t an especially accurate field goal kicker. Then add in the fact that Buffalo drafted Dustin Hopkins in round six, who is an accomplished field goal kicker and a solid kickoff man and Potter would not be a realistic part of a competition with Hopkins and Lindell. He’d just be taking reps away from the other two. Not practical.

The Bills, much like you, are excited about Woods too because he’s a polished, NFL ready wideout. He should be able to contribute right away in this offense. I don’t know if he’s quite as explosive as Jerry Butler when he came out, but he’s a talent in his own right and has above average speed.

Mark Anderson’s troublesome knee is going to become a concern if it does not allow him to do what makes him an effective player on the field. He had two surgeries through the course of last season, which ultimately landed him on injured reserve. We’ll try to get an accurate update on his situation when OTAs start up here next week. If he’s healthy and available I would expect Mike Pettine will find a role for him.

3 – Chris,

Love the work that you do on buffalobills.com. I got a question for you, as I’m sure most people do when they email you. Now that Chris Kelsay has retired, is Mario Williams going to be taking up jersey number 90? I remember Kelsey wouldn’t give it up last year, but obviously that problem is no longer there.

Thanks for the hard work,

John W

CB: Thanks for the kind words. As it has been explained to me Mario has chosen to keep jersey number 94, which I’m sure has every Bills fan with a Mario jersey breathing a sigh of relief.

4 – Hey Chris ,

I was just wondering if Kyle Williams has decided to or has gotten surgery on his other foot . Toward the end of last season i remembering that there where reports of his foot giving him some trouble & that he was going to wait until after the pro bowl so he could get the surgery done . To this point I haven’t read anywhere if he has had that done. If after the surgery he had last year he felt a 100 times better & if he had both feet done he may be even more of a force than he has been.
Well thanks again for all you do for the fans !!

Mr. T from Fort Myers via Nashville

CB: Yes, Kyle Williams did have surgery on his other Achilles in mid-February. He’s still not cleared to participate in any way at this time just three months removed from surgery. So it’s clear, much like his surgery last year it was not a ruptured Achilles that can take up to a year to heal. Instead it was a frayed Achilles. In such an instance doctors detach the Achilles, repair and strengthen, then lay it back down and re-attach it. Rehab last year was about five months.

When Kyle is ready to discuss it we’ll have the details on his outlook for you.

5 – Chris,

Thanks for the excellent coverage on the 2013 NFL draft.  Now that it’s over, could you explain exactly how the Bills work their “Board” with photos or diagrams.  You can use fictitious names but I’d like to follow how the have the players ranked and then how they work the board as the draft is proceeding.  Is it set up in columns by position and in rows by ranking?  I have a hard time visualizing how it’s set up.  I would appreciate a detailed explanation or if you could create an article for it that would be even better.

Thanks,
Ed White

CB: Actually you’ve got a good handle on it. Positions run across the top of the board from left to right with players grouped by position vertically in columns underneath those position headings. Then the draft grades run down the left side of the board in order 1-7. So a player at the top of the board will have a first-round grade all the way across no matter the position. And so on down the board.

The Bills also have a priority free agent board by position so they can effectively target the best of the undrafted prospects too.

When asked how Anderson has fared this week in practice, head coach Chan Gailey admitted he was not optimistic.

“He did some things today and is about where he’s been the last couple of weeks,” he said. “So I’m not (optimistic).”

Anderson has practiced the past few weeks, but hasn’t been full go and was inactive last week. He was dressed for the Week 15 game against Seattle, but did not play.

Dorin Dickerson was back at practice just three days removed from being carted off late in the loss to the Dolphins last weekend with an ankle injury.

Mark Anderson was also on the practice field on a limited basis as he tries to get back on the field for the last game of the season. He hasn’t played since Week 5.

“We’ve almost kind of hit a wall with him coming back, but he’s going to try to go and he wants to,” said head coach Chan Gailey of Anderson. ”It’s not from lack of want to, it’s not coming as fast as we had hoped at this point. It went very fast for a while and it’s kind of hit a wall.”

Here’s the rest of Buffalo’s limited players from Wednesday’s practice.

LB Nick Barnett – knee
WR Marcus Easley – hamstring
CB Justin Rogers – foot
LB Chris White – hamstring
C Eric Wood – knee
 

Gailey began with Dorin Dickerson, who was carted off the field last weekend, but will practice.

“Looks like he’s going to be able to go and practice today. So it looks like he’ll be okay,” said Gailey. “(Marcus) Easley is going to go. He’s going to try to do some things in practice. Chris White is going to try to do some things in practice today. I don’t think any of them will be what we term practice, but limited practice.”

When asked about Mark Anderson’s season long knee rehab, Gailey said Anderson would practice, but they still don’t have a clear picture for him on Sunday.

“We’ll see what he’s got,” Gailey said. ”We’ve almost kind of hit a wall with him coming back, but he’s going to try to go and he wants to. It’s not from lack of want to, it’s not coming as fast as we had hoped at this point. It went very fast for a while and it’s kind of hit a wall.”

Head coach Chan Gailey declared Anderson out for Sunday’s game in Miami.

“Mark Anderson tried to do some things, but couldn’t. He just couldn’t keep progressing so he’s going to be out for the game,” said Gailey.

Anderson was limited in practice all week as he never got around to practicing fully at any point. He has not played coming off a pair of knee procedures since Week 5. Gailey said he is not ready now to assess whether he has a chance to play in the season finale against the Jets next week.

Special teams LB Chris White is also out for Sunday’s game. White is dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him from practicing all week.

Head coach Chan Gailey indicated that he may very well play on Sunday in Miami, but there are some decisions to be made in terms of numbers on special teams that could impact whether Anderson is active or inactive this weekend.

“He has a better chance,” said Gailey of Anderson. ”I don’t know how much progress he’s making. I’ve got to talk to the defensive coaches after we watch the (practice) film, and get their input as to where we think he is because that’s a decision you have to make a lot of times is Mark Anderson might not play or he might, versus Chris White who can go play on some special teams and probably would if he’s ready. So who’s up and who’s down? Those are the decisions you have to make.”

Chris White has missed the last two days of practice with a hamstring injury, but Gailey said White is likely to be a game time decision even if he doesn’t practice tomorrow.

“He was in more (drills) today and made more progress today,” said head coach Chan Gailey after Thursday’s practice. ”It’s encouraging for him to be ready for this week.”

Knowing Anderson hasn’t been in a game since Week 5, if he does play it sounds as though the plan would be to ease him back in.

“What you try to do is if you do play him you’re going to limit his plays,” said Gailey. “That’s how you try to handle it. You don’t ever say, ‘Gosh when is it too long? When is it ready?’ You can go back and forth on that. They say he’s ready then I’ve got to go by what they say.”

“Today went pretty well,” said Anderson. ”I just kind of went out there and worked out doing individual drills, just getting back out there, just trying to get back into the flow of things and everything went well.”

For Anderson it’s been a difficult road back. After initially getting surgery in mid-October, Anderson’s torn lateral meniscus required a second procedure.

“It’s been difficult, but it’s something that came up and I had to get it done, had to get the surgery and go through a little adversity, but now I’m back on track and we’re just trying to take it one day at a time.”

Bills head coach Chan Gailey didn’t rule Anderson out for making a return Sunday saying the pass rusher has a “slight chance.” Anderson just wants to get to Thursday first.

“Right now I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said. ”Today was my first day back, come out tomorrow see how everything feels, I might do a little bit more with a little more reps. Like I said just take it one day at at a time and see how everything works.”

How Anderson feels Thursday morning will be the key to the rest of his practice week.

“Tonight I’m going to have to do a lot of ice treatments and different stuff to stop the swelling, so there won’t be any swelling tomorrow,” said Anderson. ”Then wake up tomorrow and roll out of bed and see how everything is and if everything is good be back on the field tomorrow.”

That according to head coach Chan Gailey.

“Yes, he’ll be on the field today,” Gailey said. ”I don’t know how long he’ll go. Conditioning is part of it. We’ve got to let him get some reps and get his feet back under him, but he’ll be on the field, which is great.”

When asked if there’s a possibility that he’ll play this week, Gailey left the door open.

“There’s a slight chance he’ll play this week, there is. It depends on how he feels and goes through practice,” said Gailey. ”Does he get really sore? You know how that goes. We’ve just got to wait and see toward the end of the week how he feels after a few days of practice.”

That according to Bills head coach Chan Gailey.

“We’ve got some guys coming back,” said Gailey. ”Mark (Anderson) is going to do some stuff tomorrow, maybe we can get him back. We get Aaron (Williams) back it looks like this week. We’re getting some guys back. We’re still hopefully we’ll get Eric (Wood) back, not this week, but maybe for the last two if we get fortunate.”

Anderson is presumably going to push his knee hard Tuesday with the athletic training and strength and conditioning staff to see how it responds. How that goes will likely determine whether he’s cleared to practice come Wednesday. He’s been out since Week 5 with a torn lateral meniscus that required a pair of surgical procedures.

Williams meanwhile has been practicing the last couple of weeks, but has been limited. He’s been out with a knee injury since Week 9.

Eric Wood, Mark Anderson and LB Chris White are not participating. White has not been on the injury report all season. We’ll find out if his absence today is injury related when we talk to head coach Chan Gailey following practice.

Eric Wood and Mark Anderson are not going. Both have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

“It’ll be tough for him this week, but things are looking a lot better than they were this time last week,” said Gailey.

So although it doesn’t sound like Anderson is going to suit up Sunday, he sounds like a possibility for Week 15. Anderson is coming off a pair of knee surgeries during the season.

When asked for an update on Anderson, Gailey still believes he’ll get the veteran pass rusher back, just not this week in all likelihood.

“He may be one that’s a struggle to get back this week,” said Gailey. ”I think he’ll get back before the end of the season, but I don’t know if he’ll make it this week. We’ll see.”

Dorin Dickerson and Donald Jones aren’t practicing today. Jones was limited in practice the last two days with a calf injury.

Dickerson is a new addition to the injury report.

Chris Kelsay and Mark Anderson are also not practicing again today. Neither have practiced all week and are not expected to play Sunday.

Mark Anderson and Chris Kelsay are not practicing for a second straight day. Joining them on the sidelines is Spencer Johnson.

We’ll get an update post practice from Chan Gailey.

Kyle Williams is getting his typical Wednesday off to give his persistent ankle problem an extra day of rest.

Mark Anderson is still not in a position to return to the practice field after a couple of knee surgeries. He’s been out since Week 5.

And Chris Kelsay is not in attendance after re-aggravating the torn ligament in his neck.

“It’ll be touch and go,” said head coach Chan Gailey of the chances of Anderson and Williams returning to the lineup this Sunday. ”They’re going to do a little bit of work during the week. But I’d say it’s less of a chance than more of a chance right now for those two.”

Anderson already had one setback, which prompted a second surgical procedure on his knee. He’s been out since Week 5. Williams meanwhile has been out since the Week 9 game at Houston. Gailey said neither has suffered a setback of late.

“It hasn’t been a setback, but it just hasn’t moved forward as fast as we had hoped it would,” he said.