Two Bills Drive

‘Buffalo Bills running back and top draft pick Willis McGahee has received medical clearance from his personal surgeon to start practicing next week. The Buffalo Bills said hold everything.’

‘Abraham will not lose his salary if he is benched. Edwards’s options are limited by N.F.L. rules that allow only the league to suspend or fine a player for an incident involving alcohol or drugs.’

‘Doctors originally estimated that Pennington would be out 10 to 12 weeks, which at the earliest would have made him available for the game on Nov. 2 against the Giants.’

‘The Jets can circumvent the suspension by deactivating Abraham, the likely scenario. (He still would get his weekly game check, $95,000.) Bryan Thomas, the disappointing No. 1 pick from 2002, would replace Abraham as the starting right end.’

‘”You saw him practice; I can’t hide it anymore,” Edwards joked. “I can’t keep him in the (practice) bubble forever. Poor guy needs a tan anyway.”‘

‘”I wanted to see everybody in their face when we talked and I apologized,” said Abraham, who crashed his 2003 Hummer Sept. 30 in Baldwin and pleaded guilty Tuesday to a reduced charge of driving while impaired. “Instead of doing it as a team thing, that doesn’t seem as personal to me. I had different things to say to different people so I talked to everybody one-on-one.”‘

‘In NFL terms, “doubtful” means the player has a 25-percent chance to play. Pennington, though he’s starting to practice a little bit, will not play Sunday. The earliest hope is Oct. 26 against the Eagles in Philadelphia and the more realistic return date is Nov. 2 against the Giants, the team that sent him into surgery and rehab in the first place.’

‘While Vinny Testaverde ran the starting offense against the scout defense, Pennington took snaps from Lott about 20 yards behind the line to mimic the plays. Pennington, who had surgery on his dislocated left wrist 6 1/2 weeks ago, did not work with the scout team in seven-on-seven drills. He is expected to do that today.’

‘”It’s Herm’s decision,” Abraham said. “Whatever he says, I’ll live by. It has not been discussed whether or not I’m going to play.”‘

‘”Then, right before I was getting on the plane to come back here, I saw that story and it kind of showed me that maybe it was for a reason that nothing happened to anybody. I wasn’t hurt and no one else was hurt. Sure, the Hummer was (damaged) and the pole, but they can be repaired. Someone’s life can’t.”‘

‘Edwards confirmed Pennington had been throwing in the team’s practice bubble for three days last week before he threw in front of the media on Monday. “It’s day-to-day,” Edwards said, flashing a smile. “He’s showing a lot better. It’s good to see him out there throwing the football.”‘

‘He’s one of the premier players in this league and he played like a tremendous warrior this last game (an OT victory against Cincinnati). Even when he strained his groin on the last play, he did it on the elevation to the catch and he still ran and took the ball down inside the 10 yard line. He’s one of those few guys that when he steps on the field, people can argue that he’s the best player out there.’

‘”I just apologize to the fans, my family, coaches,” Abraham said, “everybody around who has any kind of feeling for me and knows anything about me and hopefully knows what kind of person I am.”‘

‘But let’s not get carried away. Edwards said Pennington will not play against the Bills.’

‘”When they draft you and the fans and everybody expect things from you, how can you prove to them if you aren’t getting an opportunity?” said Thomas, adding his playing time is more adequate this season. “Sixty percent of last year I was getting like one snap a game. I can’t do anything with that. You have to accept all the media stuff and the fans saying, ‘He’s not doing that.’ They don’t know, they don’t watch the individual players and say, ‘Well, he got one snap a game, so we can’t talk about him, we can’t say stuff about him.’ ”’