This is a week of preparation for the Buffalo Bills unlike any other because of the insane amount of snowfall that has crippled the region. Four feet of snow fell in Western New York on Tuesday, and another two to three feet are expected Thursday.
There is a driving ban in Buffalo, so there will be no regular practice on Wednesday. The Bills are operating as if they will play their game against the New York Jets on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, but any change to the game time or location would be made by the NFL. For now, coach Doug Marrone is doing the best he can. It's unclear if the Bills will practice at all this week.
Marrone and his fellow coaches are bunkered in at the team facility, and plan to continue sleeping there, Marrone said on a conference call Wednesday. They have been taping segments of the game plan, and then distributing the information to the team digitally. Marrone, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and defensive line coach Pepper Johnson were all stranded on the I-90 highway Tuesday. They needed help from police to get off the road.
"It's a tough, tough situation. I've never been a part of this, even being a New York state native," Marrone said, while lauding the help of his "neighbors" in the area. The Bills say they've never dealt with this magnitude of snowfall in team history.
The Bills are offering $10 per hour and game tickets for anyone willing to shovel snow at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but the question is: When can people even get there? The Bills estimate there are 220,000 tons of snow to shovel, and they can't be sure whether the game will be played in Buffalo or on time. The final decision, they stressed, will be made at a league level.
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