Buffalo Bills starting inside linebacker Paul Posluszny is going to miss the next two or three games with a sprained MCL. Signed last Friday, veteran Akin Ayodele was expected to get the start in Posluszny's place, but Bills head coach Chan Gailey is going to give a majority of Posluszny's reps to Keith Ellison, instead.
Ellison played 36 snaps in Buffalo's Week 1 loss to Miami, replacing Posluszny after the latter was injured on the first play of the second half. Posluszny, a fourth-year pro, had played every snap in the first half, and was the team's go-to coverage linebacker in nickel and dime defenses. Ellison, undersized for a significant role in a 3-4 defense, nonetheless performed admirably, capably filling in Posluszny's responsibilities in every sub-package coordinator George Edwards used.
Ayodele, who spent time with Edwards when the two were in Miami over the past two seasons, has been with the team for less than a week, yet is expected to make his Bills debut this weekend. If he takes reps away from Ellison at all, it will likely happen in the Bills' 3-4 base defensive packages, chiefly on run downs. Andra Davis saw the most playing time of any Bills inside linebacker against Miami, but was spelled by backup strong safety Bryan Scott in sub-packages for much of the game.