The Bills got a trio of veteran players back on the practice field Monday with signs pointing to all three being available for Sunday's Week 1 game against the Jets. Defensive end Mark Anderson, right tackle Erik Pears and cornerback Terrence McGee were all back after missing the final week of preseason practices and the preseason finale.
"They both played and it looked like they did well," said head coach Chan Gailey of Pears and McGee. "We'll have to see, but Mark Anderson was back, he did well. We had most of our guys back. Brad was really the only one that missed practice."
Gailey is referring to QB/WR Brad Smith, who was a spectator due to a groin injury suffered in the last preseason game at Detroit. Still, Buffalo's sideline boss is optimistic that he'll have his multi-faceted quarterback back in the fold in a few days.
"I think he's got a chance," said Gailey. "I don't think it's one of those situations where we've ruled him out by any means at this point. They think we'll get him back to practice by the end of the week."
As for Pears it was his first practice since the Minnesota preseason game, but the veteran felt he was able to get right back in step with linemate, right guard Kraig Urbik.
"Everything was good," Pears told Buffalobills.com. "It felt good to get back out there just running around with the guys more than any
thing felt really good. Just getting back to work."
"We definitely have got to get more reps together," said Urbik. "Throughout the preseason we had maybe 30 or 40 snaps in four preseason games. So we've just got to get some more snaps together and we'll get more comfortable at it. We've been communicating great, it's just a matter of knowing when the guys are helping or not. So we just need some time with that and this week is going to help out a lot."
Gailey did confirm that Pears got first team reps in practice.
"He got some reps," said Gailey. "I'll have to go watch the film to see how he's doing and then we'll have to check after to see how he felt after practice. It looked good in practice the little I saw and hopefully when we get pads on Wednesday we'll be able to see a little bit more and get a better feel for it."
As we reported over the weekend, McGee made a successful return to practice Monday coming off the minor setback last week that kept him out of the final preseason game.
"I feel alright now," said McGee. "I feel like I did before the game. So I'm back on track like I should be."
"We've got to keep hoping Terrence progresses the way he has progressed thus far," said Gailey. "There have been a couple of minor setbacks, but really no major setbacks and if we can just keep working I think it'll be good for the entire season."
