Like the words of the Sam Cooke song read, “It’s been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come.”
James Hardy returns to the practice field for the Buffalo Bills Wednesday for the first time in nine months since having major ACL knee surgery.
Hardy was the second round draft pick (41st overall) of the Bills last year. He enjoyed early success, scoring the game winning touchdown in week two as Buffalo won at Jacksonville. But his contributions were few and far between after that, catching only nine passes for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns before having his season cut short with the major knee injury suffered against the New York Jets late in his rookie season.
The Bills love Hardy’s physical prowess. At six foot five and 220 pounds he’s a legit red zone threat. The Bills have been anemic in the red zone recently, scoring a touchdown in just one of their last 10 trips there, and Hardy could help change that.
Since Hardy has been on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list all season, he hasn’t been able to physically practice with the team. He was allowed to sit in on all of his position meetings and offensive team meetings. But no practice, until today.
With that in mind, there may not be a hurry to throw Hardy back into the wide receiver mix. The Bills have a 21-day window to either activate Hardy to the 53-man active roster of place him on season ending injured reserve. Barring any physical setbacks Hardy undoubtedly will play again this year, and likely soon.
“Coming in from being out for so long they’re going to ease me in and not just throw me out there,” said Hardy to Bills.com this week. “After talking with them and how they showed me how they’re going to ease me back into it I feel I’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing, so it’s just going out there, getting a couple of balls my way and making some plays.”
Once he’s activated the Bills will have to release a player to make room. Since it’s highly unlikely the team will carry seven receivers, Roscoe Parrish is the prime candidate to get the axe. He was a healthy scratch against the Jets last week and the team unsuccessfully tried to move him before yesterday’s trade deadline. With Fred Jackson seemingly entrenched into the kick returning role, Parrish has become near-useless to the organization.
If Parrish does manage to stay, Justin Jenkins, Corey McIntyre, Xavier Omon and Todd Johnson would become the most likely candidates to get sent packing.
Fans will immediately notice a change with Hardy. He switched from jersey #81 to #84 after the arrival of Terrell Owens.
We’ll have more on Hardy’s first practice back with the team later today during media day.
