ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Spencer Brown’s back is still the storyline, but the Bills right tackle sounded Wednesday like a man who expects to handle the Baltimore Ravens if his body cooperates.
Brown missed practice as Buffalo opened the week, yet he’s coming off a full workload in the Bills’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders after nursing a back injury from Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams. That trip out west came with a little more chemistry than anyone would usually want from a football injury rehab.
“I took enough drugs to sedate a small elephant when I was in L.A.,” Brown said. “It’s protocol. NFL signed off on it, so it’s OK.”
The 28-year-old said he and the Bills stayed on the West Coast, practiced at UC Irvine and kept pushing through the week before the Raiders game. He made it through every snap in that one, but the bye week wasn’t as forgiving.
“Got to the Vegas game and played pretty well,” Brown said, “and got on the bye week, and kind of bit me in the butt a little bit. So, just taking it easy and smart.”
Now Buffalo is preparing for a big AFC test, with Baltimore coming in desperate and Lamar Jackson trending toward a return after sitting out the Ravens’ last two games with an ankle injury. Brown didn’t practice Wednesday, but he walked away from a Tuesday meeting with Joe Brady believing the coaching staff is comfortable with where he is.
“He has a lot of trust in me and respect for what I’ve done so far here for the first six years I’ve been here,” Brown said. “And he knows I can be ready whenever. He doesn’t worry about me being ready to play or playbook-wise.”
At this point, Brown said the decision is simple: if the body says yes, he goes. If not, Buffalo will have to adjust.
His bigger picture is already mapped out in segments. The Bills have five games before a mini-bye after a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Make this push for the next five weeks, and get a little mini bye again, and make the push at the end of the season,” he said.
If Brown can’t suit up Sunday, the Bills have already seen one answer at right tackle. Third-year tackle Tylan Grable stepped in against the Rams and handled 48 snaps, filling in after Brown exited.
Buffalo had been thin at swing tackle after Ryan VanDemark signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a restricted free agent, and Grable’s work stood out, especially in the run game. His blocking helped pave the way on James Cook’s touchdown run that helped seal the victory.
There was also movement elsewhere on the injury front. Ed Oliver, who has missed the last two games, had his knee improve enough to get limited work Wednesday, and Brady said Buffalo will continue to take a wait-and-see approach with him this week.
Bradley Chubb (chest/thumb), D.J. Moore (shoulder), and Dalton Kincaid (chest) all practiced in red non-contact jerseys.
Kincaid and Chubb both left the Raiders game but returned. Moore has missed the last two games, though there’s still a chance he could be back this week.
“It was tough on him not playing in those games, but obviously we know the importance that he brings to our football team, to our offense: the toughness, the playmaking ability,” Brady said. ”It would be nice to get him back on the football field today and seeing how that goes as we progress."
There was one notable first on the practice field, too. Wide receiver Tyrell Shavers returned for the first time this season after rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in last season’s Wild Card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Buffalo opened his 21-day practice window, giving him a chance to work his way back before the team decides whether to activate him from the reserve/physically unable to perform list or shut him down for the season.
Shavers said doctors had cleared him weeks ago, and the wait was finally over.
“It felt great,” Shavers said. “It’s been nine months, going on 10. Of course you gotta knock some rust off, but it just felt good to be back out there with the guys and having fun again.”
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