Buffalo sweating on Tyrod Taylor fitness ahead of Jacksonville clash
Wednesday 21 October 2015 16:35, UK
Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan is still waiting on the fitness of starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor ahead of Sunday's clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
Back-up quarterback EJ Manuel was unconvincing in the weekend defeat to Cincinnati, while the Bills' defense stumbled badly in the second half, leaving Ryan eager to get the loss out of the system.
"We got to flush the toilet, so to speak, on one game," said Ryan. "There's no question about it. We got to get better."
As to who will take the snaps at Wembley, Ryan is unsure.
"It's too early to tell about his outlook," he said of Taylor, who started the first five games of the season but sprained a ligament in his left knee in the 14-13 win over Tennessee on October 11. "Obviously he's going through treatments and we'll see how he progresses through the week."
Taylor himself said he was making progress and shared the reps with Manuel during Wednesday's practice. He didn't say if he was going to start on Sunday, but that he was getting himself prepared to play.
"It feels good. It's getting better," he said of his knee. "We're in good conversation as far as how I feel. At the end of the day, it's up to the coaches to make the decision."
The Bills will definitely be without defensive tackle Kyle Williams in their first appearance in London after he picked up a "significant" injury to his left knee late in the fourth quarter of the 34-21 defeat to the Bengals. Receiver Percy Harvin is absent because of what Ryan called "a personal issue".
Williams' absence is a big blow for the Bills, who are 3-3 for the season with all three wins coming away from their New York home. They are already missing starting safety Aaron Williams, who is out until at least December because of a neck injury.
"We've had a ton of injuries, just a bunch of them, that's kind of offset us a little bit," Ryan said. "Right now we got to make do with where we're at.
"Did we want to have a better record? Absolutely we did. But we've earned the 3-3 record."
Live NFL
Buffalo have missed the play-offs for 15 consecutive seasons - the NFL's longest active play-off drought - and have had just two winning seasons in that time.
"We'll face the music. We got no problem facing the music," Ryan said. "We're disappointing ourselves, we're disappointing our fans, we get all that, but, man, we're going to do what we can to right the ship."
