Offensive line does the shuffle, again
Published: November 25, 2009, 10:57 pm
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There was no truth to the rumor the Buffalo Bills handed out stick-on tags that read "Hello, My Name is:" at their offensive line meeting on Wednesday.
But it would have been warranted.
The Bills welcomed new veteran Kendall Simmons to the offensive line room, and he is expected to start at right guard Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Simmons will fill the spot vacated by rookie Eric Wood, who is out for the season with a broken leg suffered Sunday in Jacksonville.
The starting five for the Miami game are expected to be: LT Jonathan Scott, LG Andy Levitre, C Geoff Hangartner, RG Simmons, RT Kirk Chambers.
Scott and Chambers were pressed into duty at those two tackle spots when the Bills visited Miami in October. Miami got six sacks in the game.
Meanwhile, the Bills promoted guard Christian Gaddis from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. He takes the spot of guard Seth McKinney, who is out due to meniscus damage to his knee and was placed on injured reserve. Gaddis spent all training camp with the Bills and was released before the season started.
The team signed defensive lineman Lonnie Harvey and offensive lineman Jason Watkins to the practice squad. Harvey is a space-eater. He's 6-foot-3 and 342 pounds. He was released by Carolina before the regular season started. Watkins is 6-6, 325. He's a Florida product who was released by Houston before the season.
Simmons started 46 of 48 games for Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2007. He ruptured an Achilles tendon in the fourth game of the 2008 season. Simmons spent the first 10 weeks of the season as a backup with New England. The Patriots cut him on Nov. 6.
He spent a good part of Tuesday taking a crash course in the Bills' offense.
"He's a very intelligent guy," said Sean Kugler, Bills offensive line coach. "He's a worker. Just him being a veteran with as young a group as we have, it's good for those guys to be around a guy who's been in Super Bowls and been in the playoffs. I think they'll be able to learn a lot from him."
"He's an explosive guy," Kugler said. "He's a powerful run blocker. He's played in a physical style offense when he played with Pittsburgh. He's had success. He's a winner."
"Geoff and Chambers have done a great job of communicating with me and helping me out, so that's just going to make it an easy transition from those two guys," Simmons said.
Wood remained in the hospital in Jacksonville Wednesday after what head coach Perry Fewell described as successful surgery to repair his broken left leg.
"I just know that everything went well and we hope to have him home soon," Fewell said.
Wood was expected to be released from the hospital today.
"I feel terrible for him," Hangartner said. "He's still in Jacksonville. It's a really bad injury. It's disgusting looking. I saw it on film. I feel really bad for him. He was having a really good season, having a good start to his career. It's unfortunate it happened."
The Bills practiced outside in steady rain in Ralph Wilson Stadium on Wednesday. Under fired coach Dick Jauron, the team almost always practiced indoors when it rained.
"Never listen to your local meteorologist," Fewell laughed. "No, I felt like we needed to get outside today because the weather was supposed to be relatively good and it made us focus and concentrate. I loved that it rained a little bit out there because the receivers had to concentrate and focus on the ball a little bit more. I wanted to get their attention from a detail standpoint so the weather was not a distraction."
Defensive tackle Marcus Stroud missed the Jacksonville game due to a sore knee and sat out practice. But he said he has a chance to play Sunday.
Offensive tackle Demetrius Bell remains out with a sprained knee. Also not practicing were cornerbacks Terrence McGee (knee) and Ashton Youboty (ankle) and defensive tackle John McCargo (calf). Safety Jairus Byrd (groin) was limited.
Miami center Jake Grove (ankle) did not practice. Nose tackle Jason Ferguson is out for the year with a quadriceps injury. He will be replaced by Paul Soliai.
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