Erik Pears, Alex Carrington injury update: both players practice Wednesday

Two Buffalo Bills starters missed practices over the holiday weekend with what head coach Doug Marrone described to reporters as sore ankles: both right tackle Erik Pears and defensive end Alex Carrington sat out those two practices, with Carrington spotted riding a stationary bike instead.

Marrone said earlier this week that he didn't believe either ankle injury was serious, and BuffaloBills.com reports that Pears and Carrington are back practicing with the team on Wednesday.

Pears walked into the starting right tackle job this summer when his expected competition for the gig, Chris Hairston, landed first on PUP, then on the Non-Football Illness list. Carrington quickly locked down a starting defensive end job in Mike Pettine's new defense, and looked unblockable at times in the camp setting. He and Carrington both drew praise from Marrone for their work in preseason action.

We'll be keeping track of all of Buffalo's injuries, major and minor, in this StoryStream throughout the season. Hopefully, this will be the last time Pears and Carrington appear in it for a while.

Today is the first media day of the 2013 regular season, so expect to hear a lot from coaches and players this afternoon as they begin fine-tuning prep work for the New England Patriots.