The Buffalo Bills will be without three starters (not counting the ones already on Injured Reserve) when they host the Houston Texans in a crucial Week 13 game this Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. A fourth valuable contributor will also be sidelined.
Those three starters that have either been ruled out, or everything-but-ruled out? Right guard John Miller, right tackle Seantrel Henderson (doubtful due to an illness that kept him out of practice all week), and linebacker Nigel Bradham. That fourth player? Running back Karlos Williams, who will be missing the fourth game of his otherwise-stellar rookie season.
Williams' absence will leave the Bills with just two running backs on the active roster - until, that is, they elevate Mike Gillislee from the practice squad (they'll have to release a player to do so) so that they have a third tailback on Sunday. That move is forthcoming.
Bradham will be replaced at linebacker by sixth-round rookie Tony Steward, who could be in line for a large amount of playing time in a defense that has asked Bradham and Preston Brown to play nearly every snap.
The right side of the line is, arguably, the most pressing concern, however, with Kraig Urbik and Jordan Mills slated to fill in for Miller and Henderson, respectively, as the Bills try to game plan to slow down J.J. Watt. (Good luck with that one.) Mills is of particular interest simply because he is not Cyrus Kouandjio, the healthy 2014 second-round draft pick that has mysteriously fallen behind Mills on the depth chart.
The rest of the players that were limited in any capacity during practice this week - quarterback Tyrod Taylor, receiver Marcus Easley, tackle Cordy Glenn, end Mario Williams, and safety Bacarri Rambo - are all listed as probable, and are expected to play.