CJ Spiller might be saying his injured ankle is feeling a whole lot better, but the Buffalo Bills are not ready to believe it. The running back continues to say his ankle is improving by the day, but head coach Doug Marrone is heavily considering sitting Spiller for the team's Week 8 matchup, stating the ankle is probably not as great as some might believe.
Marrone acknowledged that Spiller suffers a setback each time he plays in a game. While the ankle is improving, the running back continues to struggle. In the past three weeks, Spiller has seen limited action on the field. He put up just 11 yards on six carries in the team's game on Sunday. Spiller is confident that he knows his body well enough to determine whether or not he can play.
"There's a couple more hurdles that I need to pass over before I'm 100 percent. I definitely feel a whole lot better today than I did last Wednesday," Spiller said, via ESPN.com "Nobody knows my body like me. He can only observe what he sees on the film tape. But I'm telling you that I feel better. I know my body better than anybody on this team or on Earth. I know how I feel."
At the end of the day, Marrone has the final say in whether or not Spiller is on the field. He understands the running back wants to be with his teammates, contributing each game, but the couch is thinking more of the long-term and what is best for Spiller in the long run.
"My goal is, I want to be out there with my teammates," Spiller said. "[I don't] want to sit here and say, 'Oh no, I don't want to play.' That's not in my DNA. That's not how I was raised. You go out there and compete. You're going to be banged up. And that's how you have to look at it."
The Bills face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and need all of the offensive weapons they can take. As Spiller sat out of practice on Wednesday, so did veteran backup Fred Jackson. The running back is recovering from a knee injury, but it has always been the plan to give Jackson extra rest days during the week. Fantasy owners should not be turned off by the fact that Jackson sat out of practice as the veteran promises to be on the field Sunday.
"I'm fine. I'll be ready to go Sunday," Jackson said. "It's just a day off to kind of get some rest. It's just going sore, something that I dealt with all of last year, being sore with the MCL and LCL. We'll manage it, doing rehab and stuff like that and see where it goes."
