Published: August 11, 2008 10:40 pm      

BILLS NOTES: Offensive line depth takes a hit as Murphy, Estes injured

PITTSFORD — With All-Pro Jason Peters holding out, the Buffalo Bills were already thin along the offensive line. What little depth the team had took an additional hit Monday night when reserves Patrick Estes and Matt Murphy both went down with injuries in a five-minute span.

Murphy was in obvious pain with what coach Dick Jauron said after practice was a shoulder injury. Just before the Bills came off the field, he left St. John Fisher College and headed to a local hospital for more tests. Estes suffered a leg injury.

“It was a disappointing night in that regard,” Jauron said of the injuries.

When asked about the depth at the position — only three players in Langston Walker, Kirk Chambers and rookie Demetrius Bell are healthy — Jauron stated the obvious.

“There’s not much depth right now,” he said. “We’d like to be real deep, unfortunately it seems like it works that way at times where you just get hit in a spot. Right now it looks like that’s the spot so we’ll keep working through it and see what happens.”

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It’s a short week at camp for the Bills, as the team will practice from 1 to 3:05 p.m. today and hold a closed workout Wednesday before opening the eight-game Toronto series Thursday night against Pittsburgh.

“We’re excited about the trip to Toronto,” Jauron said. “We’re going to play a regular-season game up there also, so this will give us a chance to get a feel for it, get a feel for the stadium, get a feel for the hotel and the whole procedure.”

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Thursday’s game will be televised on WKBW-TV Ch. 7 in Western New York and can be heard on 97 Rock (96.9 FM).

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QUICK HITS: Linebacker Angelo Crowell, safety Donte Whitner and cornerback Terrence McGee were back on the practice field after missing Saturday’s preseason opener at Washington. Whitner, though, made it through half of practice before leaving after getting kicked in the leg. He appeared fine after practice. ... Josh Reed continues to be out with a lower back injury, but Jauron said the veteran receiver is improving. ... Also missing practice Monday were wide receivers Scott Mayle and Roscoe Parrish, tight end Tim Massaquoi and linebacker Marcus Buggs. ... Rookie linebacker Alvin Bowen, who suffered a gruesome knee injury earlier in camp, by rule had to be placed on the waived/injured list by the team. Bowen cleared the 24-hour waiver process and thus moves to injured reserve for the season. ... WR Felton Huggins caught a pair of nice passes during the workout, one from J.P. Losman and one from Gibran Hamdan. ... QB Trent Edwards and WR James Hardy connected on a bomb that drew the loudest cheers of the night.

Contact reporter Jay Skurski at 693-1000, ext. 117.