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PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- A goofy smile came over Eric Wood's cherub face.

Wood, the Buffalo Bills right guard who's returning from a Joe Theismannesque broken leg, got rolled up by a teammate in Thursday's training-camp opener.

And it felt so good -- because Wood didn't feel a thing.

Wood's unsure who piled into him from behind on the first play of a nine-on-seven, inside run drill.

"I don't know if anyone was nervous, but a couple guys helped me up," Wood said. "It was kind of funny when I hopped up. Somebody said 'Well, that's it. Now you're good.' "

For Wood, it was a major mental milestone in his recovery. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went through a similar process last preseason, when he announced he was looking forward to getting whomped for the first time since his 2008 knee surgery.

"A lot of these guys have been really sympathetic of me and my injury the past couple of months," Wood said. "Now I'm just a football player again. I'm a teammate. I'm going against defensive linemen that are giving me full looks.

"Nobody's going to baby me. Nobody cares now. No one in the AFC East cares that I broke my leg. That's the way I've got to approach it, too."

Wood was the second of Buffalo's two first-round draft choices last year. The Bills obtained the 28th pick from the Philadelphia Eagles in the trade for Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters.

The Bills moved Wood, one of the top two centers in the draft, to right guard. He was having a fine season until Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Montavious Stanley -- now with the Miami Dolphins -- inadvertently rolled into Wood's lower left leg while trying to sack Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 10.

Wood's tibia and fibula snapped in a sickening way. He has a titanium rod and four screws in his tibia. He spent the first month of his recovery in a wheelchair then graduated to a walking boot before he could take -- gingerly -- his first running stride.

"He's had to come a long way, and that tells you a lot about Eric Wood's makeup," Bills coach Chan Gailey said. "He would have been out earlier if he could've. He's proven to be a fast healer. He's able to push throughout the tough times, which a lot of guys are not able to do. He's made an amazing recovery, and we're the benefactors of that."

Wood's goal is to take every first-team snap throughout camp but added the Bills want to be cautious with him. He noted Friday "will be a big morning. We'll see how I feel. If it's sore, we'll probably hold off because we have a lot of time before Miami" in the regular-season opener.

Wood guessed he's a half-step slower than he was before the injury but claimed he's a better football player, more mature, more aware.

He insisted heavy reps are the only way to get back to where he was last year.

"It's a violent game," Wood said, "and playing O-line or D-line in the league, there's nothing I can do in the weight room to replicate hitting Marcus Stroud. He's 300-some pounds, has long arms and you have to push as long as you possibly can for five seconds or the duration of the play.

"Just getting out here and working is good."

Looks like the Buffalo Bills monitor my AFC East chat every Friday afternoon.

A reader asked a question about how Bills right guard Eric Wood was doing in his recovery from a mangled left leg, and -- voila! -- the club got him on the phone to provide an update.

Wood's goal is to be back on the field for training camp, but even in his own words it sounds like wishful thinking.

"I do know mentally that another year off could possibly happen, but I don't want to think about that," Wood said from his offseason home in Louisville. "Hopefully Bills fans don't want to think about that either. It is partially reality, but as far as it feels now, it feels fine walking around on it.

"Right now if I was planning on being on the PUP list it wouldn't be as easy to go to work and go to rehab every day if I didn't have hopes of getting back for training camp. As far as we're concerned I'm going to be back for training camp, and that's the way I want it to be."

Wood, the 28th overall selection in last year's draft, was a reason for hope on a desolate offensive line -- until Nov. 22.

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Montavious Stanley inadvertently rolled into Wood's lower left leg while trying to sack Ryan Fitzpatrick. Wood's tibia and fibula snapped.

Wood had a rod inserted in his leg. Four screws rejoined the bones. He was in a wheelchair for one month and only recently began to walk with his leg in a boot.

"I have a lot of time before training camp, which is my goal to be back by," Wood said. "So I'm not pushing it too hard. I'd love to be back for OTAs, but I think everyone has seen the YouTube video of my leg. So I don't know how realistic that is. We'll see."

Wood said he is being extra cautious because of a case he's familiar with.

Oakland Raiders running back Michael Bush, a teammate of Wood's at the University of Louisville, suffered a broken leg as a senior and rushed to get back in time for the NFL scouting combine. Bush needed more surgery after the combine. He didn't get drafted.

"At this point it's about me and my career," Wood said. "The Bills have been nothing but supportive of me and they’ve been doing anything they possibly can to make sure I have everything I need. They've let me go back home and they fly me up to Buffalo for checkups whenever needed.

"I couldn't ask anything more of the Bills, but it is about me at this point. I have to do what's best for me as far as when I can come back."

Posted by ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky

We know a lot about the AFC South after five weeks, and each team has at least one big question as Week 6 rolls around. Let’s examine each team, shall we?

Houston Texans

	Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
	Steve Slaton is gaining just 3.2 yards per carry after averaging 4.8 ypc in 2008.

A year ago it seemed as if the Texans had found their scheme and their back, thanks to Alex Gibbs’ zone-blocking attack and third-round star runner Steve Slaton. A team that ranked 13th in rushing was plenty good enough to provide a balanced offense and a believable play-action option, a key element in the passing attack that features the team’s best player in receiver Andre Johnson.

But these Texans cannot run -- they rank 30th in the league with only 75.4 yards a game. After they struck out in their pursuit of free agent Cedric Benson -- who may have been perfect but certainly found a better situation in Cincinnati -- they failed to find the complementary back to go with Slaton. Their undrafted rookies didn’t earn the job and they turned to veteran Chris Brown. Unfortunately, Brown is completely miscast as a short-yardage specialist and has failed to score from close range when given the chance to tie two games late.

Left guard Chester Pitts was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury in Week 2 and right guard Mike Brisiel is finished for the year with a foot injury. Take away 40 percent of a line that relies on continuity and it compounds the problem. With a 3.2-yard average, Slaton is not been nearly as explosive as he was last season when he averaged 4.8 yards a carry.

Maybe they tinker with the scheme based on how they are being defended. But they’re going to have to do their best to work through it, as a personnel change that would solve things doesn’t seem possible.

Indianapolis Colts

Cop-out alert: At 5-0 heading into their bye, the Colts aren’t perfect and run-blocking qualifies as a concern. But I am hard-pressed to call it an issue or to find another. I think they are the best team in the AFC.

I thought the waiving of Ed Johnson was going to amount to the team’s first adversity. But once the team said it was a result of performance, I think it became something that won’t linger long. Having the smallest section in this blog entry is a good thing, and the three others would happily trade spots.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars have done all sort of tinkering with their defensive front, and they are now regarded as a 3-4 team that converts into a 4-3 on third down and clear-cut pass-rush situations. No matter how the linemen and linebackers are aligning, however, they fail to generate a consistent pass rush.

	Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
	Derrick Harvey, a 2008 first-round pick, has yet to collect a sack this season.

Jack Del Rio’s team is simply not talented enough to win without making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable. They found ways to beat division rivals Houston and Tennessee, but lost to teams quarterbacked by Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Matt Hasselbeck.

They will continue to try to find ways to collapse the pocket and hit the quarterback. But the Jags are downplaying expectations for second-year end-outside linebacker Derrick Harvey as a rusher. They traded up to draft him at No. 8 last season and took Quentin Groves in the second round. The two were supposed to be the next generation of pass-rushers. They’ve combined for no sacks, one fewer than defensive tackle Montavious Stanley, a player who’s been waived four times since 2006.

Guys on the roster can get better and stronger, but this group needs an influx of talent that won’t arrive until free agency and the draft.

The good news on the pass-rush front? Nine of the Jaguars’ remaining 11 opponents don’t have unflappable, high-quality quarterbacks. But those quarterbacks will be excited at the possibility of having their best days against Jacksonville because they could be harassed less against the Jags.

Tennessee Titans

There isn’t a unit on the Titans that isn’t culpable for their 0-5 start. Out of 22 starters, I can only look at one -- middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch -- and conclude he’s doing better work this season than he did a year ago.

	AP Photo/Wade Payne
	The Titans need Michael Griffin to step up in the secondary.

Pass defense is the top issue, however, and the drop-off was extreme well before the Titans started to get hurt. Now without Vincent Fuller and Nick Harper for an extended time, they will see young corners Jason McCourty and Ryan Mouton continue to be tested even as they’ve added veteran Rod Hood. If Cortland Finnegan (hamstring) is still out, Cary Williams could also come into play. Those inexperienced defensive backs (and Hood, who is new to the system) could be just what a tandem such as Tom Brady and Randy Moss needs to get clicking.

Certainly a less effective, less consistent pass rush is a piece of the poor pass coverage. The defensive line is considered the team’s deepest position, and it’s a group that must play better to help those in coverage survive.

But what the Titans need to happen in the defensive backfield to provide some long-term comfort is for free safety Michael Griffin, who’s regressed, and Finnegan, once he’s healed up, to make leaps in maturity and accountability and show they can be guys to be built around the way Michael Roos and David Stewart are on the offensive line.

The young talent must return to form. We’ve talked about age as an issue, and it’s fair to presume there will be a lot of turnover after this season with or without a new collective bargaining agreement.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jaguars think John Henderson can return to the form he showed in back in 2006. Whether he can or can't, defensive tackle may be the Jaguars biggest question mark.

I'm sure they hate when we harp on ancient history. But when the Jaguars had Henderson and Marcus Stroud side by side, teams knew they were in for a physical battle. The duo provided the identity not just of the defense, but of the team.

	Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
	The Jaguars are looking to tackle John Henderson to anchor the defensive line.

Can they get it back?

If they do it'll be because Henderson rebounds and a collection of lesser known players combine to be productive around him. Last year Rob Meier was the second starter, but the team has since concluded less is more with him in terms of snaps.

I talked with defensive line coach Ted Monachino and asked him to share an assessment of the interior guys beyond Henderson:

Derek Landri: "His dominant traits are his effort and his quickness. When you tie those things together, he can change plays to help your defense win games. Some of the things that he needs to continue to work on and improve on are just lining up across from a guy and whopping him physically in the run game. But we did enough with Derek that he can still be an effective run player. I think his chances are excellent to be a big player in what we do."

Meier: "What we'd like to do with Rob is get him enough snaps so that he can be effective for every one of them. Rob has a tendency to go in there and spend himself in a hurry. If we try to get 50 snaps out of a guy who plays best when he only plays 30, then that's our fault. We don't ever have to worry about Rob not playing the best he can play when he puts his hand down. Does he have some liabilities? Sure he does. There are things he can get better at. He's similar to Derek. He's got a bigger body and a bigger frame than Derek does, but he's still more of an edgy, penetrating, disrupting defensive tackle. We think he's got plenty of gas left in the tank to contribute. I think the number is 25 to 30 plays."

Atiyyah Ellison: "He's got to be in the right system to perform well. Being in an attacking front that involves some movement and allows for some flexibility in his charges, I think, makes a difference with him. If he had to line up head up and two-gap somebody, which is what they were doing with him in San Francisco, he did a great job at giving great effort to do that, but I think he's more suited to do what we do here. He has been a very pleasant surprise. We didn't have low expectations, but for him to come in and put in the body of work he's put in, that's a very pleasant surprise. Very strong and explosive, a real thick body, but has some legitimate quickness and athletic ability as a pass rusher." [More on Ellison sometime soon.]

Terrance Knighton: "He's a young guy that needs to do some things physically to get himself into position where he can play as hard as he can for as long as possible. We need to get him into a manageable area when it comes to body weight. [He's listed at 325.] I'm talking about what is the best weight that he plays at? We've got to figure that out, we've got to figure out can he play a 60-snap game at the weight he's at? Right now we're seeing great things out of him as far as being able to physically whip blockers, his ability to get off and make some athletic plays in the run game and he's also got a little bit of sneaky pass rush ability."

Two others in the mix are Jonathan Lewis (a worker) and Montavious Stanley (who knows the scheme from a previous stint.)

Will any of those guys be Stroud in his prime? That would be a big surprise. Is there enough there to piece together effective play? The Jaguars sure believe so.

Said GM Gene Smith: "We may have some unknown guys or some unproven guys in that group, but there are some talented guys and it's a very competitive group right now. So, it's going to be interesting to see the cream rise to the top. There is still an evaluation period that needs to take place. We think we've got strength in numbers. We'd like for a couple guys to emerge, guys that take three and four hands to block."

Keeping track of the developments here may be as significant as any in camp.