ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – Drew Bledsoe provided a telling assessment of the sputtering state of the Buffalo Bills running attack on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to fix the run game,” Bledsoe said. “If I had the answer it’d be fixed already. But I don’t have the answer to it.”

Few do.

And the troubles are more inexplicable considering the Bills’ offensive line is virtually unchanged from the one that helped Travis Henry finish fifth in the NFL with 1,438 yards rushing last year. And the team made an offseason commitment to improve its ground game by adding blocking fullback Sam Gash.

Instead of getting better, Buffalo’s running attack has slowed to a walk. The Bills (2-2) have combined for 105 yards rushing in their last three games, and 212 overall, to rank 31st in the NFL.

In all, there are 18 running backs around the league that have more yards rushing than Buffalo has as a team. That doesn’t help an offense that was unbalanced already, and relying too much on Bledsoe’s passing ability.

“You want to make sure you take pressure off of that pass game by running the football, and we’ve got to get better at that,” coach Gregg Williams said. “And that’s all of us. I’ve got to give them some better answers.”

It helps that Henry, who missed last Sunday’s 23-13 loss to Philadelphia, practiced for the first time since tearing rib cartilage in a 17-7 loss at Miami on Sept. 21.

Henry’s still listed as questionable for this weekend’s game against Cincinnati, while backup Sammy Morris (sports hernia) is out, leaving the possibility the Bills would have to start third-stringer Joe Burns for a second straight week.

Burns managed a mere 17 yards rushing on eight carries against the Eagles.

In Burns’ defense, the Bills quickly gave up on the run, attempting just five running plays in the second half despite being down only 13-0.

And it’s also true that Buffalo’s ground game was sputtering even with Henry in the lineup.

The Bills best outing was in their season-opening win over New England in which they had 107 yards rushing, led by Henry’s 89. The lack of production, however, didn’t become an issue until they lost their last two games.

“If you don’t run the ball well, of course there’s going to be questions about the running game,” receiver Eric Moulds said. “We’ve done things in certain situations, footwork, guys making better blocks, key mistakes. But if we correct those things, I think we’ll have a better shot of getting more yardage.”

With the weather conditions getting tougher in Buffalo, Moulds said it’s imperative to fix things as soon as possible.

“We’re not going to come out with winds in Orchard Park and throw the ball around as much as we have in the past,” Moulds said. “We’re going to have to be able to run the football.”

Patience, said tackle Jonas Jennings.

“We’ve got everything here,” Jennings said. “I just think it’s opportunity. We’ve just got to wait until it happens. We can’t force it. It’ll come to us.”

Notes: OT Mike Williams missed practice with what the Bills termed “an upper respiratory ailment.” … TE Dave Moore was excused to attend a funeral and is expected to be back at practice on Thursday. … Bills assistant coach Dick LeBeau and defensive line coach Tim Krumrie, who worked together as coaches in Cincinnati last year, have declined interview requests prior to this weekend’s game.

AP-ES-10-01-03 1913EDT