The Buffalo Bills placed a few notable players on the active/PUP or NFI lists earlier this week, as talented left tackle Cordy Glenn was placed on the NFI with an unspecified illness that Doug Whaley did not go out of his way to downplay completely. They also put cornerback Leodis McKelvin on the active/PUP list a few days ago as he recovers from offseason hip surgery, but they have activated him today.
In the meantime, Whaley and the Bills have added another big name to one of the offseason inactive lists, as Syracuse.com’s Matthew Fairburn reports that star defensive tackle Marcell Dareus has been placed on the NFI (non-football injury, whereas PUP is physically unable to perform), though it’s unclear why. The NFI is reserved for injuries (or illnesses) that occur outside of offseason workouts, but that’s all we can go off of at this point.
So while McKelvin has received his clearance to practice for the Bills, Dareus’s status for the start of training camp is in flux, as his start of the season is also in flux. It’s unclear if Dareus will have to face a suspension for drag racing and possessing synthetic marijuana, so we’ll see if this has anything to do with a possible suspension. It’s surprising news that’s worth monitoring, especially since Dareus is one of the best defensive tackles in the game. It’s easy to speculate, but we have no idea why Dareus has been placed on the NFI. As Thad Brown notes, it could be because Dareus failed a conditioning test.