Coach Doug Marrone held C.J. Spiller out of last week's game against the New Orleans Saints with hopes that the extra rehab time would pay dividends down the road.
Did his plan pay off? According to Spiller, your guess is as good as his.
"Who knows because I’ve been playing on it and there’s only the one game that I missed,” Spiller said, via buffalobills.com. "It would be hard for me to say that it accelerated the healing process because even on Sunday when I went out there (to test it) it felt good so who knows or can say what (the rest) has done? It felt better (Thursday)."
Spiller's injuries have plagued him all season, and it's shown on the stat sheet. At this point last year, he had exactly 200 more yards gained on the ground as well as in the air, and he had four times more touchdowns.
Marrone seemed much more confident about the running back's progress Thursday than he did, telling reporters that barring any mishaps the playmaker would be on the field this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I feel good about C.J. playing and talking with him," Marrone said, "without any setbacks, we feel he’ll be ready to go."
Going at less than 100 percent will be particularly challenging against the Chiefs, who are fifth in total yards allowed per game and have been plenty active in the backfield.
Led by defensive end Justin Houston, Kansas City is far and away the league's leader in sacks with 36, nine more than the second-ranked Bills. That could be trouble for Buffalo, especially given the status of quarterback Thad Lewis, which Marrone put at "50/50."
Another banged up signal-caller only puts more pressure on the shoulders of Spiller and fellow back Fred Jackson, who's struggling through a knee sprain of his own but has been productive nonetheless. Buffalo has two more weeks before its bye and will face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets before their backfield (and quarterbacks) can get a full week's rest.
