Earlier this week, the NFL announced that Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy will not play in next weekend's Pro Bowl, as he continues to recover from a late-season MCL injury. He will be replaced by Chris Ivory of the New York Jets, and with McCoy sidelined, the Bills, right now, don't appear as if they'll have anyone suiting up in the league's all-star game.
The Bills do still have four Pro Bowl alternates, however, and with two teams heading to the Super Bowl after Sunday's conference championship games, a few spots may open up. Let's run through the list of Buffalo's Pro Bowl alternates, as divulged by head coach Rex Ryan, and try to suss out their chances of making it into the game.
QB Tyrod Taylor
Of the four teams participating in the AFC and NFC championship games on Sunday, only one - Denver - is doing so without a Pro Bowl quarterback under center. That means at least one, but as many as two, of those other three quarterbacks - Cam Newton, Carson Palmer, and Tom Brady - will be headed to the big dance, which could open the door for Taylor, depending on where he sits in line among the alternates at quarterback.
C Eric Wood
Again, we don't know where Wood ranks in the pecking order of alternates, but if Carolina and center Ryan Kalil end up going to the Super Bowl, Wood could be called in to replace him.
OG Richie Incognito
Two guards are still playing for keeps this weekend - Mike Iupati in Arizona, and Trai Turner in Carolina - that are also Pro Bowl bound, so when one of them advances, Incognito's chances of making his second career Pro Bowl improve.
DT Marcell Dareus
Any chance that Dareus would sneak into the Pro Bowl for a third straight season as an alternate were shot to sunshine when he broke his foot in the Bills' season-ending win over the Jets.