The health of Buffalo’s top wide receiver is once again a concern with the regular season right around the corner.

Stevie Johnson missed practice on Thursday with a groin injury. This comes after Johnson dealt with a groin injury throughout the entire 2011 season.

Johnson is confident that the current problem is not as severe as his injury from last season and is just a minor setback.

“I’m not concerned at all about having to deal with this like I did last year,” Johnson said. “The offseason surgery helped out a lot. I think this is just something that … it’ll be gone.”

Johnson played through a groin injury last year and didn’t miss any game action. He remained the team’s top option in the passing game, topping the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season. But he clearly wasn’t at 100 percent and it got to the point where he was routinely missing mid-week practices in order to ramp up for games on Sundays.

He had surgery on the groin at the end of April but has dealt with a few minor setbacks since returning to the field. Johnson has been told that it’s normal to have some twinges in the area as he makes his way back to 100 percent, but it’s an issue when he’s hurting days before the first game of the year.

Asked if the team may have to ease up on Johnson’s reps over the course of the season, Gailey replied: “I don’t know. Let’s get through this and then we’ll evaluate all that. He had been going great. If it’s a one-time incident, then it’s no big deal. If it looks like it’s chronic, then you’ve got an issue and you’ve got to deal with it. I’m not trying to make up problems right now.”

Just like last year, Johnson is expected to play through the pain on Sundays, if needed. He’s proved that he can still be effective at less than 100 percent. But the fact that he missed a Thursday practice this early in the season is certainly a concern for the Bills.

“A guy doesn’t practice on Thursday, there’s always concern,” Gailey said. “But I think it’s going to be OK.”

Urbik returns: RG Kraig Urbik returned to practice on a limited basis after missing Wednesday’s session with tightness in his back. Barring a setback, Urbik should be good to go against the Jets. 

Other injury updates: RT Erik Pears (groin), CB Terrence McGee (knee) and QB/WR Brad Smith (groin) all had good practices on Thursday, according to Gailey. Regarding Smith, Gailey said: “He moved around great. We got some timing with our wildcat, so that part of it was good. He got some reps at receiver. I was shocked how well he looked. Very encouraged.”

For more updates on the Bills follow correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLBUF and @MarkLud12.