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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A familiar face is set to return to one of the league’s best defenses. Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White is expected to be activated to the team’s 53-man roster this week after over 11 months of rehabbing following a torn left ACL.
Coach Sean McDermott said Monday that the team intends to activate White this week. The team had to decide by Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET with the cornerback’s 21-day practice window while on the reserve/PUP list set to expire this week. The 2017 first-round pick’s status for Sunday’s road game against the New York Jets is up in the air.
“He’ll remain day-to-day, and not really going to get into speculating on whether he’s going to play this week or not,” McDermott said. “We’re just going to continue to take it day by day like we’ve done to this point.”
White suffered the injury on Thanksgiving last season in a game against the New Orleans Saints in his home state. Prior to the injury, he had never missed more than two regular season games in a season. He wore a red noncontact jersey during his first two days back at practice in Week 6 before the team’s bye. He wore a normal practice jersey at practice leading up to the Week 8 game vs. the Green Bay Packers. He was not participating in the portion of the Friday practices open to the media both weeks.
White has practice with the team’s practice squad up to this point, but the team will now begin integrating him in with the rest of the regular defense.
“I think from a practice standpoint, it will definitely make a difference, being able to get him out, to get involved with our defense versus what he’s been doing previously, and that’s working with our practice squad,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. “How it would impact what we’re doing game wise, that’s yet to be determined, because we’ve got to watch him practice with our defense to see where he is. It’ll just affect the rotation and how we practice. We want to be able to take some views of him, but still try not to keep Kaiir [Elam] and Christian [Benford] from getting the reps they need to be prepared, just in case.”
The Bills have dealt with a variety of injuries in the secondary this season outside of White. Safety Micah Hyde (neck) is out for the season, and cornerbacks Dane Jackson (neck) and Christian Benford (hand) have both missed time. Without the 2019 first-team All-Pro on the field, Jackson has been the team’s No. 1 cornerback, while rookies Elam — the team’s first-round pick — and Benford have rotated at the other outside corner spot when healthy. The rookies alternated quarters in the team’s 27-17 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
“It’s a good problem to have, to have Tre’Davious back and to be able to have those discussions about integrating him into practice,” Frazier said. “I think we all are happy to be able to have this conversation, so we’ll figure it out. You know, we’ll do what’s best for Christian, along with Kaiir, you know, what’s best for them, but also find ways to evaluate Tre and just see where he is and without setting Kaiir or Christian back. That’s the goal. You want to keep those guys progressing until we know absolutely that Tre’Davious is back on the field in games, but we’ll get it figured out.”
McDermott said that Bills safety Jordan Poyer (elbow) is still being evaluated after leaving the team’s win over the Packers in the fourth quarter. Poyer said after the game that he was going to have an MRI on Monday and that the injury “felt like a pop.” The All Pro safety dealt with a different elbow injury during training camp and also missed time this season due to a ribs injury. Backup safety Jaquan Johnson finished the game in his place. Linebacker Matt Milano also suffered an oblique injury in the game that is being evaluated.
The defense has had success this year despite the injuries. The group leads the league in interceptions (11) and has allowed 11 offensive touchdowns (fourth fewest). But with White’s long absence from the field, even having him back at practice has been a boost for his teammates.
“Tre is funny. I’m pretty sure the whole world knows about Tre, but Tre is fun,” Benford said. ” … But it felt good just to watch him and just like to pick on some things that he do and really get to see him in action other than like, YouTube videos, cause I’m a young boy, so I used to watch him on YouTube. So, just to really get to see him first-hand in action.”