How frustrated must the Bills be with safety Jairus Byrd, who hasn’t played at all this year as he’s reportedly waiting until he’s 100 percent recovered from his foot injury before he takes the field?
And how frustratied must Byrd be with his employer, since he’s failed to land a long-term extension and his desire to be the highest-paid safety in the league and instead had to end his holdout and sign his franchise tag in August?
As CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported last week, tensions are rising between the two sides, and now, ESPN is reporting that the Bills are open to trading Byrd and that talks are ongoing.
It seems as though this is a relationship that is fractured -- whether it’s fractured beyond repair, I don’t know -- but perhaps it is better for the two sides to part ways before the acrimony gets worse. And for the Bills, it’d be nice if they could get their top-flight safety on the field.
But here’s another worry for the Bills with their new coach and new general manager. The rest of the team might be observing exactly how the team proceeds.
“Furthermore, some in the Bills' locker room believe the Byrd situation, coupled with a dynamic last season in which some teammates and staff members believed Mario Williams' wrist injury was largely psychosomatic at times, has created a climate of uncertainty about the extent of ailments taking players out of games, according to sources close to the situation,” La Canfora wrote last week. “Williams is being monitored closely this season -- he missed time last Sunday and parts of practice this week with what sources said was a mild MCL sprain -- and how the Bills handle the Byrd situation could be telling as they move forward.
“This is a young team with a rookie head coach, and it's clear that other players are watching how much breadth Byrd gets as this situation unfolds and the Bills get off to what could be yet another slow start.”
Here’s what Byrd had to say this week, via the Buffalo News.
"You don’t want to not be out there. But at the same time, you want to make sure you’re good when you go out there. You know, it’s your resume. You know what I’m saying? What you do out there. So, of course, I miss the game. This is what I do, and you appreciate it. Definitely you want to get out there."
Interesting that Byrd is talking about his resume, eh?
"It's heading in the right direction," Byrd said. "It’s getting there. It’s something that is chronic. So it takes awhile. Each time you’ve got to see. One day you might feel great and then you have a setback. It might get achy on you. It’s heading in the right direction so we’ll see."
One other interesting nugget. Byrd said he was ready to play vs. the Browns on Thursday. It was the team's decision, according to the Buffalo News, to keep him on the sideline.
Follow Josh Katzowitz on Google+
