Mike Rodak believes Bills WR Robert Woods may not be one of the Bills starting WRs.

After starting 14 games last season, the Bills' 2013 second-round pick wasn't on the field with E.J. Manuel and the Bills' first-team offense in Sunday's preseason opener. Woods has seemingly been overtaken by newcomer Mike Williams and slot receiver Chris Hogan on the Bills' depth chart, and coach Doug Marrone said this week he wants to see Woods play "more with a chip on [his] shoulder."

Up to that point it looked like Mike Williams was going to be the WR3, but Woods, who did score a TD that game, was out with the second team while Williams was with the first.

Bills WR Robert Woods' place in the offense has become a topic of conversation since he wasn't on the field with the first team offense Sunday night. Marrone said the Bills played Woods into the third quarter to get a look at him in the slot, although it may still be troubling for the second-round pick that Chris Hogan was the slot receiver with the first team Sunday night. On Tuesday night, Woods' snaps with Manuel continued to be limited. For one stretch in a red zone drill, it was Hogan, Sammy Watkins, and Mike Williams as the top combo.

Bills have been very pleased with WR Mike Williams. Team source said Williams has stepped up his game the last 2 weeks.

Williams is ranked just 92nd on our WR list but could end up climbing if his role goes beyond WR3. Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods are expected to play on the outside. But the Bills are also a run-first team and E.J. Manuel is still a question mark at QB.

The Bills made a bold statement during the draft – dealing away next year's first-round pick – to move up and select the best receiver in the crop, Clemson's Sammy Watkins with the fourth pick overall. Watkins is a dynamic playmaker who has had an impressive rookie camp. They also swung a deal with the Buccaneers to obtain Mike Williams, looking to rebound from a torn hamstring.

With second-year pros Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin in the mix, the Bills have plenty of weapons surrounding E.J. Manuel, who will open the preseason with a few reps Sunday night in Canton, Ohio.

"He is the essential cog," Jackson, the eighth-year vet, told USA TODAY Sports. "We know that. He knows that. We can only go as far as he takes us."

Manuel sounds like he could face some pressure to make the playoffs this season, but after missing much of last year he's really still just a rookie in terms of games played. He does have some nice weapons to work with in the passing game but the Bills could end up being a run-first team with C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson and newly acquired Bryce Brown in the backfield.

Throughout camp thus far it’s been either rookie Sammy Watkins or wideout Chris Hogan getting all the praise for their efforts, but Mike Williams stole the show from that position on Friday. The oldest wideout on the roster, Williams showed his high-pointing ability on more than one occasion, mixing it with smooth route running during one-on-one drills. He looks quite healthy and the Bills are depending on all the aforementioned attributes to give them something their roster has been missing for a while now: a bonafide red zone target.

Williams is vying for snaps behind Watkins and Robert Woods.

Bills WR Robert Woods took over during the 7-on-7 goal line drill to end practice on Wednesday. Woods ran his routes correctly, didn’t come back to the ball when he was near the goal line and displayed outstanding hands during his few reps. Woods first took a well-placed over the shoulder throw from EJ Manuel while a defender was draped all over the wide receiver. Woods simply reached out with his right arm, still getting his left arm dragged from behind and corralled the pass in for a touchdown. It was a gorgeous play.

Woods averaged 2.9-42-.21 in 14 games as a rookie, which translates to 46-671-3.4 if extrapolated to a full season. As it stands, he had the 5th-most receiving yards of any rookie in 2013. (His extrapolated total would have finished 4th, behind Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins and Terrance Williams.) He should see starter’s snaps opposite rookie Sammy Watkins, but in a run-heavy offense with a mediocre (at best) quarterback, Woods isn’t a sure thing to be fantasy relevant (top 60) in 2014.

The Bills have used a variety of receiver groupings through the first eight practices. Mike Williams, Chris Hogan, and Marquise Goodwin have all seen time alongside Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods. How each of those players are used in the regular season could be determined by the situation. T.J. Graham, who we considered part of this mix in the spring, has barely seen any time with the first-team offense. He's fighting for his job.

It appears that Woods is safe as the team's WR2, while Williams is battling for snaps. Hogan is the more traditional slot receiver.