Bills vs. Patriots inactives, 2014 NFL Week 17: key starters missing

One last time in 2014, the Buffalo Bills have released a list of seven players declared inactive for a regular season contest. Here are the players that won't suit up today against the New England Patriots in Foxboro:

• RB Bryce Brown (healthy scratch)
• WR Marquise Goodwin (healthy scratch)
• TE Chris Gragg (knee)
• OT Cyrus Kouandjio (healthy scratch)
• DT Marcell Dareus (knee)
• LB Randell Johnson (healthy scratch)
• CB Stephon Gilmore (concussion)

Dareus and Gilmore are the two biggest absences, leaving the Bills with gaping holes at defensive tackle (Stefan Charles and Corbin Bryant will platoon to replace Dareus) and cornerback (Ron Brooks will spell Gilmore) in the starting lineup.

Brown, Kouandjio, and Johnson have been regulars on the healthy scratch list this season, so their inclusion isn't surprising. Nor is Gragg's, whose role has been taken over by MarQueis Gray over the past month.

Which leaves us with Marquise Goodwin, who is a healthy scratch, and certainly not a regular on that list. The team moved him down to the bench in favor of the recently-signed Deonte Thompson, who like Goodwin is a speed receiver and deep threat. On the rare occasions the Bills go to four-receiver sets today, Thompson will likely get the call - and if the team likes what they see, that could mean bad things for Goodwin, the 2013 third-round pick that has had a tremendously disappointing season.