ORCHARD PARK - Shawne Merriman is back with the Buffalo Bills to try and help turn the lights out on opposing teams' offenses.
"I'm excited," Merriman said. "Just being back in the building with these guys and not having to text them every week after games and just seeing how everyone was doing. But I'm definitely glad and happy to be back on the Bills."
Merriman will get his chance to wreak havoc on National Football League offenses this week when the Bills host the Tennessee Titans.
"Shawne will take a lot of the scout team stuff just to get him back into playing shape," Bills' head coach Chan Gailey said. "He's probably a lot further along, obviously, than (Bills' cornerback Ron Brooks) would be, because he's a veteran players. But we've got to work those two guys just back into playing shape."
Despite Gailey noting that Merriman will likely spend most of his time this week on the practice squad, he did not mean that Merriman wouldn't see his share of reps with the Bills' regulars.
"He'll take reps," Gailey said. "Don't get me wrong. He'll take reps with the regular defense. It's not like he's just going to be (on the practice squad).
"As long as he's in playing shape, and everything goes well this week, and he gets back into the flow of things, he's probably going to be right there on Sunday afternoon giving us some help," Gailey added.
As for the resigning, Merriman told members of the media Wednesday that he was not that surprised that the Bills came calling for his services.
"This is the National Football League, and that's just how things go," Merriman said. "I knew I could still play and contribute to the game a lot and I was just happy to get that call back, because you never know how things are going to go. You have to be ready when it's time."
Hopefully for the Bills, and their fans, Merriman can return to the player he was prior to spending the majority of the last several years on the injured list. Helping Merriman will be his familiarity with the Bills' defensive schemes.
"It's become second nature," Merriman said. "I went through a whole training camp and got very comfortable, especially towards the end of training camp, with the scheme and how things work. It became a little more natural for me.
"I've played linebacker my whole entire life," Merriman continued. "But when you're a football player, you're a football player. You can put your hand in the dirt, you can stand up and obviously, if these guys didn't think I could play (defensive end) they wouldn't have brought me back."
With his time off, Merriman noted that he spent some time working out in Miami while also spending a lot of time back in San Diego. But he didn't stay too far from the game he's played since he was a little kid.
"Even though you're not playing, you're still a fan of the game," Merriman said. "But when you know you can still contribute and play, it's a little bit tougher to sit back and watch the game. But good thing I don't have to sit back and watch anymore, I can go out there and play now."
