You know who would be a nice guy to have on the field vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday? Bills offensive lineman Jon Feliciano.
In Week 2 vs. the Dolphins, the Bills started to shuffle the deck in terms of his replacement. It appeared Brian Winters replaced Cody Ford at right guard, Feliciano’s position, during the second half of that game. Ford also moved over to left guard, briefly replacing Quinton Spain.
With the Rams defensive line, which includes tackle Aaron Donald, en route, Feliciano could be of help. However, he’s still on the Bills’ injured reserve list, dealing with an offseason chest injury.
One previous update we got on Feliciano’s health came from the man himself. He indicated earlier this offseason that he expects to be back by Week 4. While a solid football player, Feliciano is no doctor. Is Week 4 realistic? Did Feliciano just pick that game out because he had to, at least, spend three weeks on the team’s IR? Or maybe he just wants to get out there against his former team, the Raiders?
For the first time in a long time, Bills head coach Sean McDermott discussed Feliciano’s status on Friday via video conference. The coach did not suggest that the 28-year-old would be inserted into the starting lineup next week just yet.
“We’ll see. I know he wants to get out there. He’s chomping at the bit to get out there. He’s a competitive guy. I love seeing him in the training room and in the meeting rooms. He’s one of the first guys in our team meetings in the morning. It’s just in due time at this point,” McDermott said. “We want to make sure we’re protecting him, number one, because we can’t put a guy out there that isn’t ready. It’ll be a balance here.”
Realistically, it seems like Feliciano might need another week or two. Missing only three games due to a torn pectoral muscle would be a fast turnaround. In recent weeks, due to being on IR, it hasn’t been required for the Bills to provide updates on Feliciano’s health.
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