National Football League

Bills WR Easley upbeat despite latest setback

Published Aug. 2, 2011 4:02 a.m. ET

foxsports

After nearly a full year without football, Buffalo Bills receiver Marcus Easley was more eager than most for training camp to start.

A knee injury wiped out his entire rookie season, and the NFL lockout eliminated any chance of him catching up this spring.

It took one misstep last weekend, on the first day of practice, no less, to send Easley back to the sideline after he hyperextended the left knee that required surgery last year.

As bad as it's been for the 2010 fourth-round draft pick out of Connecticut, Easley is maintaining an upbeat approach.

''It could be worse,'' he said on Monday.

The injury had no connection to the one he sustained nearly a year ago, when he landed awkwardly on his knee four days into camp. The initial prognosis is he could resume practicing within a week.

''You never want to hear you're hurt,'' said Easley, whose foot got caught in the turf as he was blocking during a running play. ''But for me, after being hurt for so long, just to hear that it's nothing too serious, that's definitely something I was happy to hear.''

That doesn't mean he's not frustrated.

''I can't even put into words how much I miss playing,'' Easley said with a shake-of-his head laugh. ''Yeah, I sit here and laugh when you ask a question like that because that's just my way of dealing with it. It's kind of my way of showing frustration.''

What Easley can't escape is knowing how this latest setback could affect his chances of making the team.

''Time is something you can't get back,'' Easley said. ''Once I get healthy, I'm going to do everything I can and hope for the best.''

In one year, Easley has gone from being in contention to win the backup spot behind starter Lee Evans, to being in jeopardy of being an afterthought.

Bills coach Chan Gailey said the injury makes it more difficult to evaluate Easley's potential, especially with the limited time all teams have to set their rosters after the lockout wiped out most of the offseason.

''It's a big, big setback for him and it hurts our football team,'' Gailey said. ''We'd like to know what he can do. We didn't get a real good look at him last year, and obviously we don't have a very good look at him now. ... But it's one of the things that you go through. That's life in the league.''

Easley was a late-bloomer at UConn. He didn't make an impact until his senior season, when he had 48 catches for 893 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games, including seven starts. With five 100-yard games, he ranked fourth in the Big East averaging just under 69 yards receiving.

Easley quickly began showing his senior season wasn't a fluke by making a good first impression during Bills minicamps in the months after he was drafted.

He built immediate chemistry with veteran quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards, who was eventually cut after losing his starting job two weeks into the season. He made numerous strong catches, and showed he was capable of using his big-bodied, 6-foot-2, 207-pound frame to his advantage.

That was before he was hurt.

While Easley spent the season recuperating, his stock dropped down the Bills' depth chart. Stevie Johnson enters camp having all but secured the No. 2 spot, following a breakout season last year. David Nelson earned a role as a clutch, third-down threat.

Add to that, Roscoe Parrish is back after missing the final half of last season because of a broken wrist. Parrish is expected to continue his role as a slot receiver.

''It's just another bump in the road and something else I need to bounce back from,'' Easley said. ''I still feel like I'm capable of not only living up to everybody's expectations, but living up to my own.''