29-year old WR/PR Roscoe Parrish is going to miss a while with a injured left ankle.  Parrish has played in 1 game for the Bills this year and he has caught 1 pass for 16 yards.  He has also returned 5 punts for 46 yards (9.2 avg) so far this year.  David Nelson will replace Parrish at WR and he’s having a solid year already.  Nelson has played in both of the Bills games this year and he has already caught 14 passes for 149 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  C.J. Spiller will likely replace Parrish on punt returns.  He has returned 1 punt for 5 yards for the Bills so far this year.  I have a feeling that Spiller is going to do a solid job while Parrish is out of action.

The Buffalo Bills have lost starting guard Kraig Urbik for the next 2-4 weeks due to a sprained MCL.  He started the first two games for the Bills this year.  26-year old Chad Rinehart will replace him in the starting lineup and he played pretty well against the Raiders last week after Urbik was injured.  Rinehart has played in 10 games (7 starts) in his first four years in the NFL.  The Bills have confidence that Rinehart will do a decent job while Urbik is out of action.

Due to Terrence McGee’s  injury, the Bills will need 30-year old CB Drayton Florence and 21-year old rookie CB Aaron Williams to step up.  Florence will step into the starting lineup.  He had 2 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception against the Chiefs last Sunday.  Florence has now played in 31 games in his first three years with the Bills and he has 120 tackles, 28 passes defensed, 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 6 tackles for a loss.  Rookie Aaron Williams will have to take over for Florence as the Bills’ #3 corner until McGee returns from injury.  Williams had 3 tackles in his NFL debut last Sunday against the Chiefs.

27-year old backup QB Tyler Thigpen has been awful so far in the preseason.  He has played in all three preseason games for the Bills and he has completed 24 of 54 passes (44.4%) for 224 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs (53.3 QB Rating).  Thigpen has also carried the ball 7 times for 28 yards (4.0 ypc) so far in the preseason.  The Bills signed Thigpen after the lockout to be the Bills’ unquestioned #2 QB and he probably still is, but they can’t feel entirely confident in him right now.

28-year old Ryan Fitzpatrick is a pesky little football player.  He played pretty well for the Bills last season.  He played in 13 games for the Bills last year and he completed 255 of 441 passes (57.8%) for 3,000 yards with 23 TD passes and 15 INTs (81.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 40 times for 269 yards (6.7 ypc) for the Bills last year.  Fitzpatrick has now played in 42 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has completed 679 of 1,175 passes (57.8%) for 7,104 yards with 44 TD passes and 42 INTs (73.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 148 times for 778 yards (5.3 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his NFL career.  Fitzpatrick would be a #2 QB on a good team but he might get to start again for the Bills in 2011.

25-year old Brian Brohm really stinks.  He played in 1 game for the Bills last year and he completed 10 of 23 passes (43.5%) for 106 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs (17.9 QB Rating).  Brohm has now played in 3 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has completed 27 of 52 passes (51.9%) for 252 yards with 0 TD passes and 5 INTs (26.0 QB Rating).  Brohm has also carried the ball 3 times for -3 yards (-1.0 ypc) so far in his career.  If Brohm doesn’t improve soon he’ll be the anti-Kurt Warner and stocking shelves at a Wal Mart.

23-year old rookie QB Levi Brown played in 1 game for the Bills last season and he completed 2 of 3 passes (66.7%) for 24 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (51.4 QB Rating).  Brown looks like he has the potential to hang on as the Bills’ #3 QB in 2011.

VERDICT:  In a perfect world the Bills would trade for a veteran QB like Kyle Orton or Donovan McNabb to start in 2011 with Fitzpatrick being #2 and Brown being #3.  It will be interesting to see what the Bills decide to do at QB for 2011.

The Bills will be without 29-year old WR Lee Evans for a little while with a high ankle sprain.  Evans has played in 13 games for the Bills so far this year and he has caught 37 passes for 578 yards (15.6 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Bills will be depending on undrafted rookies David Nelson (Florida) and Donald Jones (Youngstown State) to step up.  Nelson has played in 13 games for the Bills so far this year and he has caught 28 passes for 292 yards (10.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs and Jones has played in 13 games in which he has 12 catches for 130 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  It will be interesting to see if one of the rookie WRs steps up with this opportunity in front of them.

UPDATE:  (12/15/2010) – The Bills have placed Lee Evans on the Injured Reserve List ending his season.

Sure, the Bills are 1-8 and there is no possible way to sugarcoat that fact.  But since the bye week, 58-year old head coach Chan Gailey has the Bills looking like a completely different (and better) team.  Since the bye week the Bills are 1-3 and they have been outscored only 84-77.  The Bills played tough against the Ravens, Chiefs and Bears who have a combined record of 18-10 this year before beating the Lions last weekend.  I think Gailey has the team going in the right direction but the rest of the of the Bills’ schedule is pretty daunting.

The Bills are finally going to put the ball in the hands of their best running back.  29-year old Fred Jackson is the best running back on the roster so it’s shocking that they waited this long to make him the featured back.  Jackson has played in 9 games for the Bills so far this year and he has carried the ball 108 times for 446 yards (4.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 18 passes for 65 yards (3.6 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Too bad the Bills didn’t come to their senses earlier this year as Jackson was clearly the best RB on the roster from Day #1 this year.

There is no way to sugarcoat things….the Bills’ D sucks big time right now!  Opposing teams are putting up 32.2 points and 382.4 total yards offensively per game this year.  Teams have been able to do whatever they want against the Bills this year as they average 182.4 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry (7 TD runs this year).  Opposing teams are averaging 200.0 yards passing per game but QBs have a 114.8 QB Rating which is amazing.  The Bills only have 6 sacks this year as opposing QBs have all day to throw the ball and as a result they have 14 TD passes and only 1 INT against them so far this year.  I know that the offense hasn’t been helping much this year but at least the Bills are showing signs of life on that side of the ball!

The Bills are averaging 22.0 points in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s two starts this season but Chan Gailey is already considering starting Brian Brohm.  That means that Fitzpatrick better step up this weekend against the Jaguars.  The Jaguars are giving up 303.8 yards passing per game an opposing QBs have a 103.9 QB Rating against them so far this year.  So if Fitzpatrick can’t pass against the Jags you have to wonder if he will have success against anyone.  Fitzpatrick has completed 32 of 55 passes (58.2%) for 375 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 INTs (88.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 10 times for 92 yards (9.2 ypc) so far this year.  It’s really hard for me to blame Fitzpatrick for the Bills’ offensive problems as they don’t have much talent around him on that side of the ball.