Seantrel Henderson's Agent Responds to Report Bills Haven't Heard from OT

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson is reportedly set to return to the Buffalo Bills Tuesday after two offseason surgeries for Crohn's disease, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News.  

This comes after a previous report from Harry Scull Jr. of the Buffalo News (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) that said the Bills hadn’t heard from the right tackle since the end of the 2015 campaign.

Henderson’s agent, Alan Herman, told Dunne the Bills medical staff was aware Henderson was recovering in Minnesota and explained where his client was at in the mending process:

Now, he's cleared to do whatever he wants to do. When you have a surgical procedure, you're not going to go on the field and run around. ... If I was in Seantrel's situation, like most people, I don't think you're in the mood to talk when you're going through all these medical things. But he's OK now. He is coming back Tuesday.

Henderson missed the last five games of the 2015 season with what Dunne called “a brutal bout with Crohn’s disease.” He needed “two surgeries to remove all infected areas and reattach his intestines,” the last of which “was about a month ago.”

Dunne’s report said some of the Bills players reached out to Henderson and contacted him but the coaching staff had not. Head coach Rex Ryan apparently hasn’t been in touch with the former University of Miami lineman, and Herman said, “When a guy’s wearing a bag and he’s going through the process of healing, clearly if any of his coaches called he would’ve returned the phone call,” per Dunne.

Dunne pointed out that Crohn’s disease is only treatable and cannot be cured.

Henderson was a seventh-round pick in 2014 but still started all 16 games during his rookie season. He was entrenched as the starter last year as well and appeared in 10 games before his health problems became more of a concern.

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While Henderson was durable during the first 26 games of his career, he and his fellow offensive linemen struggled up front. Football Outsiders ranked the Bills offensive line as the 26th-best run-blocking unit and 20th-best pass-blocking unit in 2014 and the 23rd-best run-blocking unit and 27th-best pass-blocking unit in 2015.

Now that Henderson is returning to the Bills, he will battle for the starting right tackle position. Dunne listed Jordan Mills and Cyrus Kouandjio as the primary competition and wrote Mills “appears to have the inside track” because he started 29 prior games in Chicago when Buffalo offensive line coach Aaron Kromer was with the Bears.

After he reportedly lost 20 pounds during his recovery, per Dunne, Henderson will have to compete with Mills and Kouandjio.