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The exact return date may still not be known, but the Buffalo Bills are moving ever closer to the day that Tre’Davious White is back on the field with his teammates.
White has reached the final stages of rehab for a torn ACL suffered in a Thanksgiving night win over the New Orleans Saints. After starting the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, White has cleared off the list and is now eligible to return.
This week, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier gave an optimistic update on White’s progress and hinted that his return is now very close.
Bills Close to White’s Return
White was able to return to practice on October 12, kick-starting the three-week window that the team has to bring him back to the active roster.
As Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News noted, Bills head coach Sean McDermott had already made it clear that White wouldn’t be back for last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. McDermott has not yet said White he could be back when the Bills come out of their bye week to host the Green Bay Packers, but Frazier hinted that the return is growing close.
“He’s chomping at the bit to get going – just deferring to the doctors, and them letting us know based off his recovery from one practice to the next how much closer he is to getting on the football field and live competition,” Frazier said on October 24.
Frazier added that White continues to be on track with his recovery, but stopped short of offering a concrete timeline of when he will play again.
“But he’s making great progress, and we’re looking forward to when he can go out there with our normal players and playing in a game. It doesn’t seem like we’re that far away from that, but we’ll see how this week goes. But so far, so good.”
Bills to Work White Back in Slowly
When he is finally able to return to the field, it may take a while longer for White to work his way up to a full workload. The Bills have taken a cautious approach with injuries, and Frazier said it would be a “gradual process” for White to fully return.
In his absence, the Bills have gotten standout play out of a pair of rookie cornerbacks. They moved up in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft to take Kaiir Elam with the idea that he could be an immediate fill-in for White, but fellow rookie Christian Benford has been a surprise. The pair have split playing time opposite Dane Jackson, helping the Bills earn one of the league’s top defenses.
“I think our guys have done a good job of withstanding some of the pressures of being a corner, and then being a rookie at the same time,” Frazier said. “Now, we’ve kind of rotated them both to kind of bring them along, and I think that’s been beneficial.”
But Frazier said the team is still looking forward to White’s return, knowing they will have one of the league’s top cornerbacks.