Here's all the news of note for Oct. 20th
1 - McCoy doesn't practiceAfter leaving practice early on Wednesday with a hamstring issue, LeSean McCoy was a non-participant in practice Thursday. The Bills feature back was evaluated by the team's medical staff, but head coach Rex Ryan didn't have any new information about the severity of McCoy's hamstring ailment.
"We'll see how he progresses the next couple of days," said Ryan. "He was out here and able to watch practice, but hopefully we get him back."
Ryan would not confirm whether it was a strain or a pull, but did give indication that the hamstring problem is not a major injury.
"It wasn't like it was full blown or anything like that," said Ryan of McCoy's injury. "We'll just see. They're giving him treatment and we're hopeful that he'll play Sunday."
Buffalo's sideline boss knows that news of McCoy's early exit from practice Wednesday sent some Bills fans into a panic knowing the running back struggled all of last season with a hamstring injury.
"I know it scares every Buffalo Bills fan because when they hear that and right away we go back to last year," Ryan said. "Hopefully it's not to that extent. I don't believe it is."
2 - Rex: Shaq is going to play on SundayAt the beginning of the week Bills head coach Rex Ryan said they were going to err on the side of caution when it came to putting Shaq Lawson on a game field. After missing the entire offseason while rehabbing from shoulder surgery, the Bills first-round pick has had just two practices so far. Apparently he's been pretty impressive as the defensive staff worked him in with the starters on defense.
So much so that Ryan is convinced that he's ready to play on Sunday at Miami.
"I think he's going to play," said Ryan. "I've seen enough. He looks pretty darn good out there. He's flying around and he looks like the guy that we drafted, the guy that we wanted him to be. We'll see once we get the live games going and all that. But there's a reason we took him in the first round and he's showing that on the practice field."
If Lawson does get added to the active roster and plays on Sunday he's expected to be a rotational outside linebacker and possibly line up on the defensive line on obvious passing downs as well.
3 - Bills have third easiest remaining scheduleThe analytics gurus at Football Outsiders have determined that the Bills have the third easiest remaining schedule in the NFL this season. It's based on their DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value over Average) ratings which break down every single play and compares a team's performance to the league average based on situation in order to determine value over average.
*Buffalo fans can also take satisfaction in the fact that Buffalo's schedule doesn't get any harder the rest of the season. What looked like a very difficult midseason run looks a bit easier now. Cincinnati doesn't seem like the tough opponent we thought it was before the season, and Oakland may not be the tough opponent we thought it was just a couple weeks ago. (The Raiders drop from 10th to 18th in DVOA after losing to Kansas City.) The Bills also still have two games against Miami on the docket, plus the rematch with the Jets and home games against Cleveland and Jacksonville. Based on average DVOA of opponent, only Tennessee and San Diego have easier schedules the rest of the way.
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