Published: November 25, 2009 11:45 pm      

BILLS: Wood retunrs to town for Thanksgiving

Buffalo Bills rookie Eric Wood is flying back to Buffalo today for Thanksgiving.

You won’t be able to miss him. He’ll be the largest man in the city using crutches.

“We’re happy so far,” Wood said from his hospital room at Baptist Medical Center in downtown Jacksonville on Wednesday night. “Hopefully, everything will settle the way it should and I’ll be ready to play football in six to eight months.”

Wood, who suffered a compound fracture of his left leg in the Bills’ 18-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, said he was taking some pain medication but was very optimistic because there had been no surgical complications. He said the doctors’ game plan called for six weeks on crutches and a total of six to eight months of rehabilitation. 

Wood, a 6-foot-4, 315-pounder, fractured both bones in his lower leg — the tibia and fibula — when he was hit by Jaguars defensive lineman Montavious Stanley while pass blocking in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. Stanley made a diving attempt at tackling Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, but instead landed and rolled directly on Wood’s lower leg, bending it sideways. 

According to Wood, the fibula was reset and a rod was inserted in his tibia during the surgery performed at Baptist Medical Center on Sunday. He said screws were used to stabilize the tibia at both knee and ankle sites. The tibia, or shinbone, is the large, weight-bearing bone of the lower leg that connects with the knee and ankle.

Wood had started at right guard in every game this season after being selected in the first round out of Louisville in the 2009 NFL draft by the Bills.

Doctors deemed it necessary to keep Wood under observation as a precaution, preventing him from returning home sooner than today.

The injury was so gruesome CBS elected against showing more than one replay.

Eight-year NFL veteran Kendall Simmons, who was signed Tuesday, might start in Wood’s place Sunday, when Buffalo (3-7) hosts Miami (5-5). It will be the seventh different offensive line combination this season.

Meanwhile, starting cornerback Terrence McGee (knee), starting defensive tackle Marcus Stroud (knee), and starting left tackle Demetrius Bell (knee) didn’t practice Wednesday. Backup defensive tackle John McCargo also missed practice because of a calf injury. Rookie safety Jairus Byrd, who leads the league with eight interceptions, was limited because of a groin injury.

Running back Marshawn Lynch practiced fully after missing the second half of Sunday’s loss at Jacksonville because of a shoulder injury.

Mark Ryan is a former Tonawanda News contributor who now lives in Tallahassee, Fla. The Associated Press contributed to this report.