Bills WR Marcus Easley earns his opportunity

Wide receiver Marcus Easley has battled injury and illness to finally reach his goal of making the Bills’ 53-man roster. (AP)

When the call came from his agent on Tuesday, Marcus Easley finally could exhale. After years of false starts and unfortunate mishaps beyond his control, the WR had finally worked his way up to the Buffalo Bills’ active roster. 

“It’s a big milestone for me just knowing the way everything played out the last couple years,” Easley said. “I’m just glad to be one of 53 now.”

It’s been quite the journey for the wideout. Easley was a one-year wonder at the University of Connecticut but displayed a rare combination of size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) and speed (4.46 seconds in the 40). That intrigued the Bills enough to choose him in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft.

Easley was one of the early standouts at his first training camp, reeling in a pretty one-handed grab on his second day. But a knee injury ended his season just days later. 

He returned in 2011 with high hopes and a chance to seize the team’s open No. 2 WR job. Days before the season opener, Easley had a health scare during practice that turned out to be a serious heart condition. So he was again placed on IR. 

He was fully cleared by doctors in December and made his return in the spring. Easley showed flashes but also had to make up for lost time. He lacked explosion in his routes and had trouble consistently gaining separation. That led to him being cut, although he earned a spot on the practice squad. But that was a positive, allowing him to find his footing during the first half of the season. 

“He’s played extremely well on the scout team,” coach Chan Gailey said. “He deserves an opportunity to come up and see what he might be able to do.”

Easley’s work ethic has not been lost on his teammates. They know how hard he’s had to fight to make it before he’s even played in a regular-season game.

“I think everybody here kind of knows his story and everything he’s been through the last few years,” QB Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “He works extremely hard and I think everybody was excited to know that he got called up. He’s worked and put in a tremendous amount of work this year. You watch him on the scout team every day and the stuff that he’s done -- he’s really made some plays and runs hard every play. It’s good to see. I think we’re all happy for him because it’s been a long time coming.”

Easley has more work to do. It’s not a given that he’ll be active in the immediate future and will have to work his way into the lineup. But at this point, he can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“A bad start to an NFL career doesn’t necessarily mean a bad finish,” Easley said. “You can always turn things around and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”