We finally got a chance to talk with Bills Coach Dick Jauron today, the first time he’s made himself available since last season ended.  He’s here at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the un-official start of the NFL offseason.

We were able to pick the Coach’s brain about a couple of players who missed significant time last year because of injuries, including LB Angelo Crowell.

He underwent knee surgery a few days before the season opener and missed the entire season.  And based on what I heard today, I wouldn’t expect him to be in a Bills uniform this year.

“Angelo is a free agent,” Jauron tokd us, “and he’ll be on the free agent market next week.  We’ll see where it goes.  We’ll see how much interest there is, the price, and take if from there.”

The coaching staff was known to be upset with Crowell’s decision to undergo surgery days before the opener last year.  I take Jauron’s comments about Crowell hitting the open market as an indication that the Bills are ready to move on without him.

As to 2nd year WR James Hardy, the Coach sounded eager to get him back on the field.  Hardy suffered a season ending knee surgery in mid-December.

“James is doing well in rehab,” Jauron told us, “and we’re hoping to have him back sometime early in training camp.”  That obviously means Hardy will miss the OTAs, and that could mean the Bills will take a long look at the WRs here at the combine this week, or maybe even look at the crop of FA Wideouts next week.

We’ll have more on the Bills and Jauron on News 4 live from the combine.  And you can watch the entire one-on-one on WIVB.com.