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Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills News, 8/17

Matt Warren is Associate Director of NFL coverage for SB Nation and previously covered the Bills for Buffalo Rumblings for more than a decade.

Chan Gailey on Left Guard Switch, Tuesday Practice - BuffaloBills.com
"The Bills head coach talks about Chad Rinehart earning a chance to practice with the first team offense, the injury situation, and Stevie Johnson taking more of a leadership role."

Bills Roundup: A Changing at the Guard - BuffaloBills.com
"Hear from head coach Chan Gailey and guard Chad Rinehart on the change at left guard on the offensive line, Stevie Johnson on guys stepping up, and check out the top plays from Tuesday."

Nix: Offensive line depth Bills' primary concern - Yahoo! Sports
"Lack of depth along the Buffalo Bills offensive line has become general manager Buddy Nix’s primary concern three weeks into training camp. And he’s not sure whether that can be addressed before the start of the season."

Practice Notes - Day 13 - BuffaloBills.com
"I came in expecting to compete for a starting spot or at least get into the rotation," said Rinehart. "That was just done a little different this year just having the same guys with the ones and the same guys with the twos. So I just need to take advantage of the opportunity of getting reps with the starters."

Inside The Bills | Merriman has muscle tightness
"It’s a little tight," he said. "I didn’t play much Saturday, but coming out here I got a good workout early and I’ll see how I feel tomorrow and just go from there."

Johnson wants leaders behind him - BuffaloBills.com
"Who said there can’t be more than one leader," asked Johnson. "That’s what I’m trying to build. Obviously the attention is on me, but I feel as a leader I want to create other leaders and not followers. So in this receiving corps I’m going to try to build leaders out of them and not followers. They can watch me and I lead by example, but I want them to be leaders on their own."

Inside The Bills | LB White to miss Broncos game
"He’s a couple of weeks, three weeks away," said head coach Chan Gailey. "He got rolled up on pretty good so he’s going to be out a while."

Inside The Bills | WR Davis prognosis increased
"He’s about a week," said Gailey of the time Davis is expected to miss on the field. That will put him out for the Bills next preseason game at Denver on Saturday.

Inside The Bills | Williams thankful for vet input
"Bills second-round pick Aaron Williams knew he was flying blind coming into training camp with no rookie minicamp, no OTAs and no mandatory minicamp in the spring. That’s why he’s so appreciative of the tutoring time veterans in the secondary have given him. Williams thanked George Wilson and Jairus Byrd in particular on his twitter account."

Fitzpatrick expects big things from Donald Jones, Brad Smith | ProFootballTalk
"Fitzpatrick says that the name to watch is Donald Jones, who joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Fitzpatrick said Jones will have a "great year" in his second NFL season. Jones appeared in 15 games with five starts as a rookie."

Buffalo's Big Mike - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow
"I feel like I am improving every day out here," Jasper said after Monday’s practice. "I’m still an underdog; I’ve got a long way to go and a lot of things to learn."

Maybin joins long list of Bills’ busts - Wellsville Daily Reporter
"No stranger to big draft busts, the Bills added another to the list when they waived Maybin after two extremely disappointing seasons. Take your pick from Erik Flowers to J.P. Losman to Mike Williams and now Aaron Maybin - among others - the Bills have had some horrendous first-round draft picks. Many will argue Maybin as the biggest bust of all and the evidence is quite damning."

Chan Gailey shuffles Buffalo Bills' offensive line | Democrat and Chronicle
"It's one of the most redeeming qualities Gailey possesses, his willingness to try new things and not stick with the status quo. The fact that Levitre was the player demoted, and not right guard Kraig Urbik, who seems to be struggling, came as an eye-opener, particularly to Levitre."

Changing of the guard for Bills - The Buffalo News
"I really don't know, you have to ask somebody upstairs," said Levitre about what led to the move. "It's their decision. They told us we were going to be rotating this week and I don't know what their long-term plan is. They said they want to see us compete and I guess that's what is going to be."

Stevie wants to share leadership role - The Buffalo News
"I don't want my guys to say, 'I have to look up to Stevie, I have to do this like he does it,' " Johnson said. "No, I want you to do it your way but watch how I do it and build on it your way. We all have something to prove so why not take this as a huge opportunity and make something of it."

White to miss at least two weeks with ankle injury - The Buffalo News
Rodney McKissic's breakdown from Tuesday's practice.

Video: Tuesday's practice - The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News recap.

NFL.com Report: Bills Well Below Average NFL Salary Totals - WGR 550
"Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network reports that only four teams in the NFL are spending less money than the Bills on players in 2011. The Bengals, Jaguars, Chiefs and Buccaneers have less money tied up in salaries than Buffalo. The Bills ($96,114,524) are about $15 million below the NFL average ($111,292,302) for salaries heading into the season."

Levitre Out, Rinehart In At Left Guard - WGR 550
"The head coach added he had not lost any faith in the abilities of Levitre, and also didn't rule out Rinehart possibly moving to right guard if that seemed like it were the team's best option."

Bills' Merriman Sits Out Half Of Practice - WGR 550
"Merriman felt a tightness in his right leg during one-on-one drills against offensive lineman, and spent the rest of the practice with his helmet off taking it easy. Bills head coach Chan Gailey didn't seem too overly concerned."

30 applicants vying to call Bills’ old turf their own - The Buffalo News
"The Buffalo Bills’ old turf has plenty of offers for a new home. As of the Monday deadline, about 30 applicants had asked for all or part of the playing surface that was removed from Ralph Wilson Stadium in July."