You Need a New Program For This Week's Buffalo Bills Starting Lineup

The last time the Buffalo Bills took the field was two weeks ago, against the Houston Texans, in week eight. During the two weeks they had off, it is uncanny how many changes their starting lineup will have undergone by the time they square off with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

After you see all the changes due to take place, you have to wonder how much stock Jeff Fisher could put in any of the game film they watched from the Texans' game. The Bills are looking at as many as eight potential changes in the starting lineup from one game to the next, which is roughly one third of their starters.

This is not all set in stone yet, because there are still a number of Bills that are listed in questionable and may not be decided until game time. Here is what we do know so far:

Changes on Offense

Starting quarterback Trent Edwards is back as he has been medically cleared to resume play after the concussion he suffered against the Jets. He will relieve Ryan Fitzpatrick of his duties.

Starting tackle Jonathan Scott is back from his injury to return to the starting lineup. His replacement Jamon Meredith is recovering from his own knee sprain and may be available to play as well.

Starting fullback Corey McIntyre is presumed healthy enough to return to the lineup. For plays involving max pass protection, that is a good thing because Marshawn Lynch and Freddy Jackson have done their fair share of whiffing on blitzing linebackers.

Starting wide receiver Terrell Owens may or may not play due to a strained hip. He is one of the question marks.

If Owens can't go, it will be probably be Steve Johnson or the recently activated James Hardy (off of the PUP list) that would see more reps. Josh Reed would move to T.O.'s starting spot. 

T.O. missed two practices this week, so his availability may boil down to a game time decision.

Hopefully there are no couches in his hotel room, as falling asleep on a couch is what initially caused his hip to act up. If he plays and does not come up with any catches against a suspect Titan's secondary, it will be very difficult for me to not call T.O. "Couch Potato" for the rest of the season.

Roscoe Parrish, who could have been brought back to take T.O.'s place, has his own new injury, that being a twisted knee in practice this week. He had been listed as the emergency QB for the Bills while Edwards was out, so we don't need to worry about that now.

Gibran Hamdan will probably be inactive as the emergency QB, since the Bills will need his active roster spot for either McIntyre or Hardy.

Although there hasn't been talk of him starting, rookie tight end Shawn Nelson is expected to return, and should be one more weapon that Trent Edwards needs to re- introduce himself to, along with Hardy and Johnson.

I would like to see Nelson take over for starter Derek Fine, but Nelson needs to show more complete play, from catching passes to blocking. It would also help if he could avoid any more injuries.

Now let's move over to the defense, for the changes there.

Bryan Scott is now healthy enough to return, but not at his normal safety spot. He will instead be taking over at linebacker for injured Keith Ellison. Expect to see some reps for Nic Harris there as well, as the Bills get a chance to see what the rookie from Oklahoma can do.

Terrence McGee had his knee scoped in the past ten days, and is not ready to return. So Reggie Corner will be plugged in to, appropriately enough, the corner. Ashton Youboty will see some time on the corner as well in McGee's absence.

There are at least two more question marks that could have an impact on the starting lineup on defense.

Aaron Schobel has a sore groin and the Bills can't say if he is starting or not. If he can't go, then Ryan Denney gets the call to start, with more reps for Aaron Maybin as well.

Donte Whitner is another question mark, and could return to safety, which would bump George Wilson back to the bench. That is a little hard to believe, since Wilson has been the Bills leading tackler recently and had come up with an interception in two of the prior three games.

Don't be surprised if the Bills come out with some three safety looks, as Whitner, Byrd, and Wilson can be used to help shore up the run defense. If that occurs, and the Bills still have Bryan Scott in at linebacker, then in reality you have a four-safety look, taking Chris Draft out of the game.

Kyle Williams is still expected to be out so no changes there. It is still going to be Spencer Johnson filling in for him, with John McCargo getting some time there too.

AFC Defensive Rookie of the month for October, Jairus Byrd, is probable to play. The Bills rookie safety whiz-kid recently had his off-season hernia surgery checked out, which is something that has been bothering him recently.

So, there you have the run down. A bunch of moving parts. Will there be some blown assignments and coverages? I am confident there will be, as you have to expect that to happen with guys being gone for so long.

The thing I wonder about is how healthy these returning players truly are. They will need to be able to run like the wind if they want to stop Chris Johnson. The Bills will miss Terrance McGee this week, as he has been able to run guys down all season long, and this is a game where his speed will be missed.

Finally, Trent Edwards needs to get acclimated to the offense again, and they to him. The new wrinkles installed during the bye week will have an impact as well, so you need to keep watching to see who is doing what. Throw out that old program already.