NFL Notes: 49ers, Bills, Eagles, Titans, & Vikings

49ers

• According to Cam Inman, 49ers RB Carlos Hyde (leg) returned to practice on Friday and “looked fine” in position drills..

Bills

Bills HC Rex Ryan confirmed that third-round pick John Miller is the favorite to start at right guard.

“He’s looking like a 10-year veteran and he doesn’t make mental mistakes, and he’s an athletic guy,” Ryan said, via Syracuse.com. “When we took him, we thought he’d be our starter, and we’ll see, but I feel pretty confident that’s he’s going to be a major contributor for us.”

Eagles

ESPN’s Adam Caplan mentioned during an interview with 97.5 the Fanatic that he expects the Eagles to trade veteran G Evan Mathis before the start of the season.

“I’ve been asked repeatedly about his future, and I would say I would be pessimistic, clearly, for him to be on the (Eagles) this fall,”  Caplan said.

Titans

• Paul Kuharsky of ESPN mentions that it would make sense for the Titans to run a spread offense with power runs similar to what the Patriots employ, but their lack of talent could prevent them from doing this in 2015.
• HC Ken Whisenhunt said it’s not likely that second-year DB Marqueston Huff will line up as the nickel corner, though he did not totally rule it out.
• Kuharsky anticipates Huff and Damion Stafford to be FS Michael Griffin and SS Da’Norris Searcy‘s primary backups.

Vikings

Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer confirmed that WR Cordarrelle Patterson will be the team’s primary kick returner this season and referred to Patterson as the “best kick returner in this league.”

“In my mind, Cordarrelle Patterson’s the best kick returner in this league, so it would be crazy for me to put someone else in that spot,” Priefer said on Thursday, via Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press. “…We still want to bring in competition. There’s still things that he can’t do this year he did last year, like put the ball on the ground, those types of things.”