Published: November 03, 2009 11:13 pm      

BILLS: Byrd soars into rair

It’s gotten to a point where Jairus Byrd even amazes us during the bye week.

The Bills safety is having a rookie season like no other. In his first four full games, Byrd has plucked seven passes, tying him for the league lead with New Orleans’ Darren Sharper, a four-time Pro Bowler who has effectively played three more games than Byrd this season.

As if anything could make his torrid start more incredible, Byrd told reporters Tuesday that he’s been playing with a sore groin that could be related to the sports hernia injury he had operated on at the onset of training camp.

“It’s been a couple weeks that it’s been nagging at me,” he said. “The trainers have done a good job getting me through and prepared to go to games. I’m excited we have a bye week so I can try to get healthy and get back on track.”

Byrd saw a specialist Monday in Philadelphia. The appointment was a scheduled check-up related to Byrd’s surgery, coach Dick Jauron said.

“It went pretty good,” Byrd said. “They’ve kind of said that sometimes you get scar tissue build up in there. For what he did when I went to go see him we’ll know more about how I react and what’s going on with the pain and stuff like that in the next week or so. I won’t go into detail. He did something and we’ll see how it goes next.”

It’s a wonder what Byrd could be capable of at full strength. He’s already matched the career-high interception total his father, Gil Byrd, set three times in his career with the San Diego Chargers. And it only took Byrd 10 quarters to pass fourth-year safety Donte Whitner on the Bills’ all-time interceptions list.

“Jairus has done wonders for our pass defense,” said George Wilson, who has played opposite Byrd in the defensive backfield for the last four games while starters Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott have been injured.

“I think he’s in the mind of every opposing quarterback that’s under center. He makes them second guess throwing the deep ball. He’s a baller.”

Cornerback Terrence McGee said he’s never seen anything like Byrd’s hot streak.

In fact, nobody under the age of 50 has. Byrd is the first player with three straight multiple-interception games since San Francisco’s Dave Baker did it in 1960.

The Bills single-season record is 10 interceptions, held by Tom Janik (1967) and Billy Atkin (1961).

A month ago, it seemed just as likely that Byrd would finish the season with no interceptions. The first of Buffalo’s two second-round picks, Byrd missed almost the entire offseason program aside from the initial rookie camp because of Oregon’s final exam schedule. Then, after a brief holdout, he sat out the majority of training camp while recovering from surgery.

In three preseason games, Byrd didn’t do anything to indicate he’d be a more reliable pass catcher than Terrell Owens come midseason.

“He’s just been sensational on the field,” Jauron said. “He’s a terrific player. He studies the game and he’s very into it and he’s skilled. I think our guys have done a nice job of preparing him. But he’s clearly got skills that are not ordinary for this level, and he’s using them.”

Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at jonah.bronstein@niagara-gazette.com