Inside The Bills

O-line calls to be handled by vets

Bills head coach Chan Gailey chose not to reveal the lineup for his offensive line Sunday. It’s left the question out there as to whether it will be Kraig Urbik at center or rookie David Snow. Whoever is not at center will be at right guard. Even if Snow is at center against the Rams Sunday, don’t expect him to be making the line calls. That will be handled by two veterans up front for the Bills.

Head coach Chan Gailey answered in the affirmative in his weekly conversation with Buffalobills.com when asked if Andy Levitre and Kraig Urbik will be handling a lot of the pre-snap calls on the line no matter where Urbik lines up.

“Oh yes,” said Gailey. ”A lot of times when you have two new guys playing next to each other that’s not the easiest thing in the world either. You really have to communicate all the way out. The good thing about Sam (Young) is he’s played, he’s been a pro so I think he’ll be able to communicate back in whatever is necessary to communicate back in.”

Urbik also gave indication that he and Levitre would be handling the line calls before the snap.

“Whether I’m at guard or center I’m going to be help (David) Snow and Sam (Young),” said Urbik. ”We’re going here, or we’re going here, that way there is no guesswork and no thinking. We’re just going. I think Andy (Levitre) and I are going to be doing most of the communicating no matter what.”

“The communication is one of the biggest factors, but we’ve been working with those guys,” said Gailey of Snow and Young. ”We’ve had communication with them for quite a while, almost the whole season now. The speed of the game is what they’ve have to adjust to. The other three guys are used to the speed of the game, they’re not. It’s going to be a challenge for them to adjust to the speed of the game. And this is a tough defensive front to make that adjustment against.

“This is probably the biggest challenge we’ve had all year. With the quality of players they have on their front, they play so hard and so fast. They’re quick and strong. They’re as good a defensive line as we have faced all season. We have our work cut out for us with two new guys on our offensive line. It’s a challenge for our football team.”

Gailey holds O-line cards close to vest

The Bills know what their lineup is going to be on their offensive line come Sunday against the Rams, they just don’t want St. Louis to know. Head coach Chan Gailey chose not to reveal who would line up at center in place of the injured Eric Wood.

When asked what he was willing to reveal regarding his re-shuffled offensive line for this week, Gailey offered the following.

“We’ll have five,” said Gailey. ”Every play we’ll have five and sometimes we’ll have six, but that’s about as far as I want to go on that. We know what we’re going to do, but I don’t want to talk about where everybody is going to play.”

Last Sunday after Eric Wood exited the game with a torn MCL in his left knee, right guard Kraig Urbik moved to center and rookie David Snow came on to replace Urbik at right guard. Sam Young stepped in at right tackle for the injured Chris Hairston, who has since been moved to injured reserve.

The other possible lineup would be David Snow at center and Urbik remaining at his right guard spot. Either way is comfortable for Urbik, who made five starts at center last season for Wood.

“I felt comfortable going in there last game when Eric got hurt and I’ve had a lot of practice at center so I feel comfortable there,” said Urbik.

Whether the offensive staff has chosen to change that alignment for this week remains to be seen.

RBs, TEs ready to assist in pass pro

Veterans on Buffalo’s offense realize they’ll have to assimilate rookie OL David Snow and OL Sam Young into the lineup in short order this week in preparation for the St. Louis Rams Sunday.  

Although Ryan Fitzpatrick typically gets the ball out quick, the Rams are a formidable pass rushing front as they’re currently tied for fourth in the league in sacks with 34.

“They do a great job of rushing the passer and (Chris) Long will be a challenge over there for Sam (Young). That’ll be a real challenge for him. But to be honest with you they rotate through a lot of guys that can play. This might be overall as athletic a defensive front and a powerful combined with quickness defensive front as we’ve played all season.”

Long has seven sacks this season and fellow DE Robert Quinn has 8.5. Buffalo’s tight ends and running backs assure they’ll be ready if help is pass protection is required.

“It’s something that we’ll be aware of,” said Fred Jackson. ”We would like to see what those guys can do, though. We’re going to have some things in the game plan where we may be doing some things over there, chipping here and there,  but I think that will be dictated by how they handle it. 

“If they’re doing fine, we’ll let those guys handle it on themselves, and just do what we do.  If we feel like we’ve got to get over there and give Fitz a little bit more time back there, it’s something we’re accustomed to doing and it won’t be hard for us to adjust to that.”

Gailey not locked on C-G combo

As the Bills head out on the practice field this afternoon, it will begin the final stages in making a decision as to who will start at right guard and who will start at center for the Bills on Sunday.

Most observers are expecting starting right guard Kraig Urbik to shift to center in place of the injured Eric Wood, much like he did last season, and undrafted rookie David Snow to come in at right guard to replace Urbik. That’s how the pair ended the game last Sunday after Wood left with a torn MCL in his left knee.

“We’re going to work them both and I’m not sure which way that’ll go to be honest with you,” said head coach Chan Gailey. ”We’ll have to wait and see which way is the best way to go by the end of the week.”

Snow played center all through the offseason workouts and training camp with Buffalo, but in his four years at Texas he was a two-year starter at guard and spent his other two collegiate seasons at center.

Gailey said he has a drop dead date to cement the lineup for Sunday, but would not reveal that timetable to the media.

O-line loses another

Bills head coach Chan Gailey already said that Cordy Glenn and Kraig Urbik won’t be healthy enough to play in this Sunday’s game. New starting RG Chad Rinehart left Sunday’s game with a calf injury and his replacement is out for this week’s game as well.

Colin Brown started for Rinehart Sunday after Rinehart was a last minute scratch for the starting lineup. But Brown left the game with an injury after just a couple of series on offense and didn’t return.

“It’s a hamstring and he won’t make it this week,” said Chan Gailey of Brown.

Rinehart meanwhile is still a question mark as well.

“Rinehart, we’re going to rest him Wednesday,” said Gailey. ”We think he’s got a decent chance to make the game.”

If he cannot go Sunday, Sam Young, who replaced him late in Sunday’s game, would step in. With just five healthy linemen it’s likely that Buffalo will have to make a roster move before the end of the week if Rinehart does not improve.

Outlook for Pears

Erik Pears is still not back on the practice field getting reps in any capacity, but there was some good news concerning the right tackle’s healthy moving forward.

Out for the past week plus with a groin injury, head coach Chan Gailey said a visit to a specialist by Pears went well.

“I don’t know yet. We’re going to make that decision tomorrow or the next day. If Erik can’t play, which it looks like right now that won’t happen, both of them will play Hairston and Sam will both play.”

“It looks good to be honest with you,” said Gailey. ”He saw the specialist and he gave him some things to work with. It looks like it’s going to pay dividends. He was trying to get out here to practice. I think it looks a lot better than it did three days ago that’s for sure.”

Pears had hernia surgery in the spring, so a groin injury was of some concern to Gailey. But with the current outlook it sounds as if he’ll be back practicing sooner rather than later. However, it would be a surprise if he plays in the team’s first preseason game Thursday night leaving Sam Young and Chris Hairston to likely share the starting right tackle role against Washington.

What to expect this afternoon

There are a couple of lineup changes that we could see on the practice field this afternoon.

Mark Anderson is expected to rotate back in as the starting right defensive end after Chris Kelsay manned that spot at Friday’s practice. Shawne Merriman could eventually be a factor in that competition, but right now appears to be more of a dark horse candidate as he’s been running almost exclusively with the second unit.

At the starting right tackle spot, it doesn’t appear as though Erik Pears will go this afternoon. He did not line up with the first unit at the morning walk through, with Sam Young taking his place. Pears did step out of practice during the final few series in team work Friday, but it was thought to be in an effort to pace his reps coming off of offseason surgery. We’ll check in with head coach Chan Gailey if indeed Pears does not participate in team work this afternoon.

If Sam Young does in fact move up to the first unit this afternoon as Pears injury replacement look for fifth-round pick Zebrie Sanders to man right tackle with the second unit in Young’s place.

Leodis McKelvin was out on the field for morning walk through and looked to have a bounce in his step so it’s anticipated that he’ll be back practicing this afternoon. He left the field early on Thursday due to illness.

OL Young lines up on both sides

Newly signed OL Sam Young lined up at both right and left tackle during the course of practice Wednesday as he tries to get acclimated to his new surroundings and more importantly his new playbook here in Buffalo.

“I am going to ask as many questions as I can right now,” said Young, who has been projected by GM Buddy Nix as a right tackle. ”Whether it is from the guys or the coaches, I showed up five minutes ago so I am just trying to soak it all in right now. And like I said get in the book tonight and tomorrow and get rolling in order to be as sharp as I can.”

Young, who was claimed off waivers from Dallas by the Bills, has had the benefit of facing the likes of DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer in practice every day the past year or so and believes it has only made him a better player.

“I went up against him all the time,” said Young of Ware. ”That was the best thing that ever happened to me was being able to go up against him and Anthony Spencer day in and day out. He would bull rush me and then he would tell me exactly what he saw, so I was learning from him and bouncing ideas off of him. The guy is as good as it gets so it was a great opportunity for me to learn from him and really to improve.”

Young also said it was nice to see a familiar face in Buffalo’s locker room in TE Scott Chandler, who played in Dallas with Young last season.

“I had him as a roommate for a couple of road trips in Dallas so it was nice seeing him when I walked in the locker room,” he said.

OL Young’s jersey number

Newly claimed OL Sam Young has his jersey assignment with the Bills.

He’ll be wearing No. 71.

Nix on Bills new OL Young

In an afternoon appearance on the Shredd and Ragan show on 103.3 The Edge, Bills GM Buddy Nix gave a thumbnail scouting report on newly signed OL Sam Young, who was claimed off waivers from the Cowboys Tuesday by Buffalo.

“I (scouted) Sam coming out of college and so did Doug Whaley and Doug Majeski and Tom Gibbons.  Most of the guys in our office saw him,” said Nix. ”Joe D’Allesandris, our offensive line coach, was familiar with him from the preseason.  He’s a huge man.  He’s a very smart guy and he brings an attitude with him and we need more of that.  He’s got a little nasty in him.  He’s a much better run blocker than a pass blocker.  He’s a lot better than he was coming out of college.  He played with Hudson Houck down in Dallas and Hudson does a good job teaching technique.  He’s not a great foot athlete being at that size.  He finishes blocks and he’ll help our running game.  We’ll play him at right tackle.”

Now Nix doesn’t mean start at right tackle, he means that’s where Young will line up in practice with the second unit. But it was clear with only Chris Hairston as a backup tackle option on the roster they had to add another tackle to the mix.

“That’s the reason you’ve got this guy (Sam Young) and some more,” Nix said. ”We’re good in the middle. We’ve got depth in the middle. We’ve got Andy Levitre that can play center. We’ve got Kraig Urbik that can play center. And actually Colin Brown can work some at center. Joe D works everybody in there ‘cause if you lose a center you know it could shut you down.

“But we’ve only got one backup tackle and he’s a rookie (Chris Hairston). He’s trying to back-up both sides and that’s tough because it’s more learning for him. We think he’s going to be a really good one. But if you put him in one place and leave him he’ll help you quicker.

“So that’s our thinking with this guy. He’ll be at right tackle and he’ll be our backup at right tackle if he does what he did in Dallas.”

OL Young adds to depth

The Bills are trying to develop their depth, particularly at offensive tackle. That’s why in the last two days they’ve moved a defensive lineman on the practice squad to offensive tackle and added another in Sam Young, who was claimed off waivers.

Rookie Chris Hairston is the only reserve lineman that played at tackle extensively this preseason, until today’s (Tuesday) addition of Young, who was claimed off waivers from the Cowboys.

Practice squad player Michael Jasper was flipped over from nose tackle to offensive tackle on Monday.