Buffalo Bills left tackle Demetrius Bell will miss Sunday's Week 5 home game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a shoulder injury. Bills head coach Chan Gailey broke the news to reporters Monday afternoon, but also noted that Bell's shoulder injury will not require surgery, and thus won't be season-ending.
Dating back to last season, Bell had made 20 straight starts at left tackle for the Bills - and dating back to 2009, when he was handed the left tackle job after Langston Walker's release, Bell had started 28 of the Bills' past 36 games in that position.
Bell - whose job was nearly given to left guard Andy Levitre during the pre-season after a horrid showing in Denver - had really improved his consistency through four weeks before going down. He'll be replaced in the starting lineup against the Philadelphia Eagles by rookie Chris Hairston, a fourth-round pick out of Clemson. Hairston finished yesterday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in that spot without much of a hitch, but going into the game as a starter is a different matter entirely.