The long and winding road of rehabilitation finally reached the reward stage for James Hardy on Wednesday. The Bills' second-year wide receiver was taken off Reserve/PUP and added to the 53-man roster officially enabling him to participate in games on Sunday if the coaching staff so chooses.
"It's been a long nine months and I've just been patiently waiting and now is my time," said Hardy. "I feel great. I feel like I did pretty good in practice and now I'm just ready to move forward so I can get back out on the field. I'm ready."
The Bills' staff waited until the last day of a 21-day practice window to activate Hardy as he has worked out with his teammates for the past three weeks. Hardy began the regular season on Reserve/PUP as his surgically reconstructed knee was not ready for the daily rigors of the practice schedule leading up to Sunday games each week.
But Hardy proved over the last three weeks that his knee is now strong enough to withstand the daily pounding and has been sharp with his route running and assignments.
Now he's hoping he'll be able to help jumpstart an offense that hasn't been all that productive in six of their first eight games.
"I feel each and every individual on this team we just have to do more," said Hardy. "We can't point the fingers. We just have to look at each other, and me coming back into this situation I just want to bring a positive attitude to it and hopefully we can get on a little roll."
To make room for Hardy on the 53-man roster the Bills waived running back Xavier Omon.
A former sixth-round pick in 2008, Omon appeared in four games this season with five carries for 22 yards. He was also inactive for two games and did not play in two others including Buffalo's last game against Houston.
