The Bills got two pieces of bad injury news recently with wide receiver Sammy Watkins’ broken foot and linebacker Shaq Lawson’s shoulder issue.
During an appearance on WGR 550 on Tuesday, General Manager Doug Whaley said that there hasn’t been a firm timetable established for either player’s recovery at this point but did say Lawson is expected to miss at least the early part of the regular season. Whaley said they don’t anticipate Watkins will miss any time come September, but the team will have to prepare for that possibility in the coming months.
For now, neither that preparation nor the effort to replace Lawson will include an addition from outside the organization. Whaley was asked about signing veterans like Dwight Freeney and Anquan Boldin and said that the team wants to see how the players already on the roster fare before considering any move to bring in a new face.
Manny Lawson is expected to be the first man up at linebacker while the unrelated Lawson recovers from shoulder surgery. Greg Salas, Leonard Hankerson and rookie Kolby Listenbee are some of the receivers who will see more time while Watkins is out of the lineup.