DETROIT (AP) — Bills President Russ Brandon says the team is planning to return to Buffalo after Monday night’s game in Detroit against the New York Jets.

It remains to be seen if the weather will cooperate.

The Bills’ schedule has been in flux because of a lake-effect storm that dumped more than 5 feet of snow on the Buffalo region since Monday. This weekend’s game against the Jets was moved from Buffalo to Detroit and will be played Monday night. Even next weekend’s home game against Cleveland could be affected.

“Our plan is to get right back to Buffalo after the game,” Brandon said. “We’ll have a short work week as we prepare for Cleveland, but we’ll stay nimble and see how the situation evolves and we’ll go from there.”

The Bills left Friday for the Detroit area, where it’s been cold and snowy this week, but nothing like Buffalo. Bills coach Doug Marrone said a few players had to be picked up by snowmobile before the team was able to leave.

Buffalo (5-5) is still in the playoff hunt, and this is a game the Bills are favored to win, but the weather has disrupted their preparation.

Advertisement

“There’s never a silver lining when you’re not playing a game at home,” Marrone said. “It is what it is. We’re not going to sit here and we’re not going to make any excuses. We’re going to get ourselves the best prepared we can to play a game.”

Fans are being offered free tickets to Monday’s game.

This marks the second time the Bills will play at Ford Field this season following a 17-14 win over the Lions on Oct. 5. It also is the second time in four years the facility has hosted a neutral site game.

The last time an NFL game was moved to Ford Field unexpectedly, the fans who did show up witnessed a bit of history. Brett Favre’s streak of 297 regular-season starts came to an end that night — on Dec. 13, 2010 — when the Minnesota Vikings lost to the New York Giants 21-3. Favre was sidelined by shoulder and hand issues.

That game was moved to Detroit because the Metrodome roof collapsed.

Lions president Tom Lewand was asked Friday if Ford Field could be available for the Bills again next weekend. Detroit hosts Chicago on Thanksgiving, and there are high school championship games scheduled for the venue Friday and Saturday.

Advertisement

“I don’t want to get into projections. Let’s deal with what’s in front of us right now,” Lewand said. “I know the folks at the Bills’ organization are working awfully hard to get themselves prepared not only to play the Jets on Monday night, but the Browns next week. It wouldn’t be fair on me to comment beyond trying to get them as successful as possible for a great game on Monday night.”

Marrone and his staff had been living at the Bills’ headquarters since Tuesday. They were going over the game plan and consulting with the team by phone and computer because a majority of the players were snowed in.

Next week is looking uncertain, too.

“We’re preparing to play at Ralph Wilson Stadium next Sunday against the Browns, God willing that the weather holds up for everybody,” Brandon said.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.