AP

The Bills defense has been in a groove over the course of the team’s four-game winning streak and they’ll be getting some more help on that side of the ball this week.

Bills coach Rex Ryan said Monday that linebacker Shaq Lawson will practice with the team on Wednesday. Lawson, the team’s first-round pick in April, has been out since having shoulder surgery in the spring.

Lawson has been on the physically unable to perform list and his return to practice will open a 21-day window to add him to the 53-man roster or shut him down altogether.

Ryan said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, that it’s uncertain right now whether Lawson will play against the Dolphins in Week Seven. If he does play, it will be as a backup to Lorenzo Alexander. Alexander leads the league in sacks, so there’s not much need to explain why the Bills will stick with the status quo.

Lawson’s surgery left the Bills with some egg on their face because there were concerns about his shoulder heading into the draft that the team shrugged off. Should he make positive contributions over the second half, those memories will fade as the Bills try to push their way into the playoffs for the first time since 1999.