"The first reaction Bills fans must have had upon hearing the news Wednesday afternoon that Shawne Merriman got hurt in his first practice quite likely was "This has to be the most cursed team in the NFL."

But on second thought, a closer look at the Merriman situation reveals that maybe it wasn't so far-fetched that this could have happened.

Yes, the 0-8 Bills certainly seem to be cursed, and they don't ever seem to catch a break. As any Bills' fan who still has red, white and blue Zubaz pants hanging in his or her closest would attest, if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.

However, there was a reason why the Chargers released Merriman — he has been injury-prone and unproductive the last few years, and that still may be the case.

And a desperate team such as the Bills is more prone to take a chance on a player such as Merriman, despite his injury woes and recent lack of production in the hope that he can resurrect his career while wearing their uniform.

"Shawne put 10 pounds on his body and went out there and had a little strain," Bills coach Chan Gailey said after practice. "We didn't want to chance anything so we're getting it checked out completely and we'll see what happens from there, but it wasn't anything major."

Still, Gailey admitted that the injury greatly decreases Merriman's chance of making his Buffalo debut Sunday against the Lions at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"It hurts him, his chances go down tremendously, they do," Gailey said.

Merriman, who was not available to the media for comment, was picked No. 12 overall in the 2005 draft by the Chargers, a recommendation made by San Diego's then scouting director, Buddy Nix, who is now Buffalo's general manager.

Merriman's career started brilliantly as he made 39.5 sacks in his first three seasons, earning a Pro Bowl berth all three years. But his troubles began in 2006 when he was suspended four games for using steroids; since 2008, he has played in only 23 of a possible 41 games and the Chargers cut ties with him a few weeks ago."