Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey said this afternoon that both Geoff Hangartner and Kraig Urbik are out for at least this week's game against the Cleveland Browns. Terrence McGee, meanwhile, told Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com that he will practice on Wednesday.
The bad play of the offensive line yesterday could at least partially be explained by the sheer number of injuries the starting offensive line has had to endure. The team was down to their fourth-string center yesterday in guard Andy Levitre.
The silver lining of the Hangartner and Urbik news is that neither have been ruled out for the games following the Cleveland game. With two of their top four linemen out, the Bills will hope to get Eric Wood back. Wood, the starting right guard, will likely man the pivot in place of Hangartner this week if he can return from his own leg injury.
Taking Wood's spot will fall to Cordaro Howard leaving Demetrius Bell and Andy Levitre as the only opening day starters in their original spots. Should that happen the only healthy Bills offensive lineman remaining would be Ed Wang. The team will likely add another lineman to the roster this week with strong candidates on the team's practice squad. Jason Watkins, Chad Rinehart, and Marc Dile are all on the taxi squad and are interior linemen.
Coach Gailey also said the OLB Antonio Coleman will be done for the season. Coleman injured his knee early in yesterday's loss and was replaced by Arthur Moats. The Bills are already short at linebacker and could add another to the fold this week.
The news for McGee is encouraging. Speaking with the team's website this afternoon he said he would practice Wednesday but wasn't sure if he would play at all for the rest of the year. Leodis McKelvin has been playing in place of the injured veteran.
Also encouraging is the news of Shawn Nelson's migraines. Gailey said they have subsided but is not sure what that will mean going forward.
"They’ve subsided," said Gailey. "I can’t tell you that it’s 100 percent gone or that he’s 100 percent ready. But he’s feeling a lot better right now."