Gillislee is expected to rejoin the Patriots' game-day roster Sunday against the Bills with Rex Burkhead (knee) unlikely to be available until the postseason, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.
Since collecting four touchdowns in the Patriots' first two games of the season, Gillislee's inability to bust off big runs resulted in his usage declining in subsequent contests before he was effectively removed from the backfield rotation. With Dion Lewis emerging as the lead back and the more versatile Burkhead and James White representing the top complementary options, Gillislee has been inactive for the Patriots' past six games. Burkhead's absence creates a window of opportunity for Gillislee to reenter the game plan, but it's still expected that Gillislee will rank behind Lewis and White in terms of snap count. If the 5-foot-11, 219-pound Gillislee does get any carries Sunday, they would most likely come in short-yardage situations, given that he offers more size than Lewis (5-foot-8, 195 pounds) and White (5-foot-10, 205 pounds).