The Buffalo Bills are planning on going without left tackle Demetrius Bell Sunday when they face the Washington Redskins in Toronto. Bell is still nursing a shoulder injury he suffered Week 4.
“It’s going to be close,” Bills coach Chan Gailey told the media Monday. “We’re planning him not (being ready Sunday). If we get him it’s great.”
With Bell’s absence, left guard Andy Levitre is expected to get the nod protecting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s backside. Levitre spent some time at left tackle Week 6 against the New York Giants when Chris Hairston, filling in for Bell, left play due to a high ankle sprain.
Levitre is practicing at left tackle this week.
“He’s doing all right,” Gailey said of Levitre’s transition to the perimeter. “It’s not live obviously, so he’s doing pretty good on the tempo that we’re practicing at. It’s going to be a lot different Sunday.”
Chad Rinehart would start at left guard if Bell can't go.
Buffalo’s offensive line had been shuffled around a few times during training camp. Gailey said that while Levitre still has a little work to do on his technique, the multiple reps at different spots on the line in the presesaon has paid “great dividends now just from a communication standpoint.”
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