We've liked Bills rookie RB C.J. Spiller but felt he'd have to battle RBs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch. The battle has been temporarily suspended as both Jackson and Lynch have suffered injuries that are expected to keep them out for the next month or so. Meaning Spiller is thrust to the top of the depth chart by default.
Lynch is out with an ankle injury and Fred Jackson is out with a broken hand.
Link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d819c5831/article/report-ailing-bills-rbs-jackson-lynch-out-for-rest-of-preseason
Clipped from the NFL.com article: Fred Jackson will be sidelined for four to six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand, sources told The Buffalo News on Sunday, and Marshawn Lynch is expected to miss three to four weeks because of a sprained ankle. That leaves rookie C.J. Spiller carrying the load for the Bills and gives Joique Bell and Chad Simpson a better chance to make the team.
Jackson, who also could miss the Bills' Sept. 12 season opener against the Miami Dolphins, was hurt during a 7-yard run on the Bills' second play from scrimmage in Thursday night's preseason opener against the Washington Redskins. Jackson was pulled down by the facemask by Redskins safety Kareem Moore, who was penalized on the play, and landed on his right hand while using his left hand to brace for the impact.
[[[[[[[[[[[Football Guys:
Before these injuries, we'd been forecasting Jackson to lead the Bills in rushing with 180 carries compared to 150 for Spiller. We had Lynch penciled in for 55 rushes. You can see all the Buffalo projections here http://subscribers.footballguys.com/2010/currentproj-buf.php. With this news, Spiller clearly gets a bump as we see how Jackson recovers.
Here's the 8/10 Training Camp report from our Bob Henry that was published last week.
"1st round pick C.J. Spiller signed his contract last week and reported to training camp. The terms of the contract were 5 years for $25 million with $20.8 million guaranteed and some additional incentives that could push the value much higher. "He's got a lot of catching up to do, not only mentally but physically, so we're going to work him in slow," said coach Chan Gailey. "But you can see the explosiveness that he's always had." There have been some rumors that he will start getting first team reps on offense and possibly on the return units as well, but he mostly worked behind Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch so far. It will be important to watch how the Bills use their RBs in the first couple preseason games to get a better idea of what to expect from them once the regular season starts. If Spiller does overtake Lynch and start pushing Jackson for the #1 job, that could make one of the RBs expendable so a Lynch trade could still potentially happen. On the injury front, fullback Corey McIntyre had his leg rolled up on and walked off the field during Monday’s practice."
We do these every Training Camp Reports every week and we'll have a new version for this on Tuesday.
Bottom line is this looks like Jackson will miss valuable camp time, if not some regular season time. And with Lynch sidelined as well, Spiller will see his opportunity to perform earlier than many expected.
Source: http://www.footballguys.com/
Author: Joe Bryant
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