Despite having been officially listed as Questionable by his team and held out of practice on Friday, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins told reporters that he will "definitely" participate in the upcoming match against Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
"I'll definitely be out there," Watkins mentioned on Friday, via Mark Rodak of ESPN. "[I'm] just fatigued, tired. Just kind of told the coaches, 'Hey, my ankle is kind of bothering me. I had a little tweak.' And they said, 'No, don't go out today,'" he added.
The team's top receiver has been sidelined after injuring his left ankle while catching a touchdown pass during Buffalo's loss to Cincinnati on October 18. Watkins returned to practice last week but was limited on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday morning, he was seen with his ankle heavily taped while working with a trainer.
Bills coach Rex Ryan considers the 22-year-old wide receiver a game-time decision on Sunday. "Obviously it will go down on Sunday. We'll see how he's feeling. It's not like we're really gonna work him out. We'll see how he's feeling, but I think he's going to be fine though," Ryan explained.
Watkins' return will certainly be a welcome move as his team has already been restricted by injuries on offense, with standouts such as Watkins, quarterback Tyrod Taylor (knee), running back Karloss Williams (concussion), and right tackle Seantrel Henderson (concussion) all missing considerable amounts of playing time.
In other Bills injury updates, the team has announced on Saturday that it has included Watkins' fellow receiver Percy Harvin on the Injured Reserve (IR) list. The 27-year-old veteran has been dealing with hip soreness and was sidelined since October 11. This move to place him on the IR list will effectively end his first season in Buffalo.
In October, Harvin did not fly to London with his team because of personal reasons, according to coach Ryan. Prior to this recent development, the receiver was ruled out of the Bills' upcoming match versus the Dolphins on Sunday due to a knee injury.
The wide receiver delivered 19 catches for 218 yards as well as one touchdown in five games for this season. After securing a one-year contract with the Bills during the offseason, his future with the team is now uncertain.
Cornerback Leodis McKelvin will be Harvin's replacement on the Buffalo's active roster. McKelvin has been activated from the Non-Football Injury list. The team reportedly planned to add him to its 53-man roster shortly after he returned to practice a couple of weeks ago. Furthermore, given rookie cornerback Ronald Darby's recent performance, the Bill has considered moving McKelvin to safety position.
