The battered and bruised Bills received a welcome boost to their ranks at practice on Tuesday with the return of six players from various ailments. The timing couldn’t be better with Sunday’s Week 1 matchup in Baltimore looming.
Seantrel Henderson (Crohn’s disease), Aaron Williams (concussion), Marquise Goodwin (concussion), Mike Gillislee (concussion), Cordy Glenn (high ankle sprain), Nickell Robey-Coleman (quad contusion/ankle) all made their 2016 full practice debut at 1 Bills Drive.
“3-4 months ago, I couldn’t tell you that I thought that I would be here. Even doctors didn’t think I’d be here,” said Henderson. “As far as my first surgery and getting my intestines taken out and things like that, all of that is behind me now.”
Aaron Williams return is perhaps the most comforting. The safety suffered a concusison after colliding head first with wide receiver Dez Lewis during a drill in training camp. Williams also missed the last 11 games of 2015 with a neck injury.
“It’s always great to be back with my teammates,” said Williams in the locker room. “It’s great to be back playing the game that I love. Freak accident that kept me out for a little bit. In between those times where I couldn’t come, I was lifting and running and trying to keep in shape and keep my head in the playbook.”
Sunday’s game in Baltimore will also mark the return of Ravens starting quarterback Joe Flacco. He’s on the way back from tearing his ACL and MCL last November.
“You just got to study him on film,” said cornerback Stephon Gilmore. “He doesn’t really talk much, but they have some things that they give away. I think we just study film on him and we get to him and get him off his spot and make him throw bad passes.”
“”He just looking at you like ‘Can you stop it?’ Half of the time he is looking at you and he’ll throw at you,” said cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. “That’s what I like about him. He’s real risky, gutsy type of quarterback. That gives the defense a chance to jump something.”
In the past, a knee injury might spell the end of a career, but quarterbacks can now recover successfully from knee surgery. Flacco is trying to join the list of QBs like Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, and Philip Rivers.
“He only played in one preseason game [in 2016], but he looks like the same guy,” said Bills head coach Rex Ryan. “The guy throws a great deep ball and has a big-time arm.”
