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The Bills may have gotten disappointing news about running back Fred Jackson on Thursday, but things sound a little bit better in regard to their other injured tailback.

C.J. Spiller was in pads at the team’s practice on Thursday. According to Chris Brown of the team’s website, Spiller took part in individual drills a day after he worked out on the side with trainers while the rest of the team practiced. Spiller sprained his shoulder in the first half of the Week Three victory over the Browns and did not return during the game. He’s run for 308 yards in three games this season.

Before practice started, Spiller said that the plan was to make sure the shoulder was completely healed before he’d return to game action.

“I’m just taking it day by day,” Spiller said. “We’ll see how it goes. The main thing we don’t want to do is rush it. It’s Week 4 and we’ve got 16-plus if we get to the postseason so we’ll do day by day and see what Sunday holds.”

Between Jackson and Spiller, it is sounding like we might not have much of an idea about the makeup of the Bills backfield until the team releases its list of inactive players before kickoff on Sunday. Whoever winds up in uniform, it’s a good bet Tashard Choice winds up with a share of the workload.