Bills coach held out Jairus Byrd

The Buffalo Bills used the franchise tag on safety Jairus Byrd, who has yet to play in 2013 because he is recovering from a foot injury, plantar fasciitis. Byrd practiced on Tuesday and was a full-participant for the first time but was held out of Thursday night’s game. Head coach Doug Marrone felt he wasn’t ready, that maybe if the week wasn’t shortened for the Thursday night game and they were playing on Sunday it would’ve been different.

“It was the first time we did things full speed,” Marrone said, via ESPN.com. “We practiced a little bit this week. It’s my responsibility to make sure that we put a player out there that has gone full speed for a full week. If it was a Sunday game, I think it could have been different.”

Marrone was being cautious, but Byrd said he felt ready to go.

“I felt good to go,” Byrd said, per the Buffalo News. “He just didn’t think it would be best for me to go tonight. Ultimately, that was his call. He controls all that.”

Would he have impacted the game enough to win? Maybe. The Bills lost to the browns by 13 points. They also lost their starting quarterback E.J. Manuel, which probably played a bigger role in the loss.