Ahead of a primetime bout with the Patriots, Bills coach Sean McDermott is still waiting to see what the Buffalo lineup will look like come Monday.
But it's less about taking a page from New England coach Bill Belichick's book, and more from the uncertainty of players coming off of the Reserve/Covid-19 list.
Rookie offensive lineman Tommy Doyle has been placed on the Covid list.
Right tackle Spencer Brown and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei both returned to practice this week from the Reserve/Covid-19 list, though Lotulelei was limited Thursday.
“I think we just need to see how it goes. It's a little bit of uncharted territory, and it's a little bit individually specific from what I've experienced this year and a half that we've been going through this, so we'll just see what today looks like,” McDermott said. “They look like they're trending in that good direction, but again, this will be my first real look at them today.”
People are also reading…
Lotulelei has missed three games on the Reserve/Covid-19 list. Brown has missed two.
If anyone on the Bills understands the uncharted territory, it’s left tackle Dion Dawkins. Dawkins’ preseason bout with Covid-19 had him in the hospital, and he’s been transparent about the ongoing effects. Lotulelei reached out when he felt symptoms, Dawkins said.
“Star had called me, and he asked a couple of questions because he was feeling chest pains and stuff like that,” Dawkins said Thursday. “I just told him that they give us these antibody infusion bags, and I took one and after that, I started to feel a lot better. So, I’m guessing Star took that and he's feeling a lot better. I don't really know, but I know that was one of his questions. I just helped them through it as much as I could because everyone's battle was a little bit different.”
But Dawkins can’t foresee exactly what the recovery period will look like for his teammates.
“I hate to say this, but I really can't answer that question because everyone's battle was different,” Dawkins said. “I'm telling you, mine was so drastically different than the average person, I don't really know. I know going into it, some guys were fully vaccinated, and some guys weren't. And it's a different battle for everybody. But anytime you miss time on the football field, the process is different of coming back.
“It's going to take a couple reps to get back into the flow of the things and to get your body right and actually feel a human body's presence. Everybody's process is different, but it takes time. Spencer bounced back pretty good today.”
Through the first 11 games of the 2021 season, the Bills’ defense has piled up a number of impressive stats.
Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll also emphasized Tuesday that the team needed to see more of Brown on Thursday and Friday.
Lotulelei’s pending return could boost the Bills' run defense. Even if the team believes the Colts’ thrashing was an outlier, safety Jordan Poyer understands that other opponents will be carefully dissecting that film.
“We know we’re probably going to see a lot of those runs that hurt us in that game, and we’ve been working hard on a lot of those runs that hurt us, but we know we’re going to see some stuff that we haven’t seen before that we’re going to have to talk about on the sideline and maybe adjust to,” Poyer said.
Conditioning was one of the first hurdles for Dawkins in his return. Dawkins has addressed his health throughout the season, nearly every time he’s addressed the media. Part of that is because it’s still evolving.
“Every day, every week, my body feels different, just with the recovery part,” he said.
The Patriots are like the movie monster that keeps coming back to life in all the sequels.
That doesn’t mean it’ll be the same journey for Brown or Lotulelei: Dawkins said with new variants and new information, it’s hard to boil anything down or to project someone else's timeline. But in his personal case, the ongoing adjusting has become more mental than physical.
“It's really just the mental battle to it because being a pro you always think, 'Man, I'm that guy. I'm a starter in this league,' ” Dawkins said. “I'm a second contract left tackle, like all of this stuff, and then you feel the outside battle of your body and the outside world.
“So just dealing with the mental part of trying to control your body that you thought you knew but now you really don't know is the biggest battle. Just trying to figure out exactly what your body is now after it went through a tragedy of Covid.”
Practice notes
Wide receiver Cole Beasley (veteran rest) and fullback Reggie Gilliam (ankle) did not practice Thursday. Defensive tackle Star Lotulelei (illness) and linebacker Matt Milano (shoulder) were limited. Offensive lineman Cody Ford was listed with a bicep injury, but a full participant in practice.
The Bills signed cornerback Greg Stroman to the practice squad Thursday.
