Football players and coaches are very routine oriented.

They are used to the weekly routine of practice throughout the week and a game on Saturdays.

But this week, the Falcon football team is all mixed up since they don’t have a game until next Tuesday at Buffalo.

‘We’ll have two Tuesdays, two Wednesdays, a Thursday, Friday’s the travel day and game day is Tuesday,’ said first-year coach Dave Clawson in a seemingly jumbled rant.

And that is why the team will be confused.

What Clawson meant by that was the team had a scaled-down version of a regular Tuesday practice yesterday. Then, his squad will have a regular Tuesday practice today, two regular Wednesday practices Friday and Saturday, a regular Thursday practice on Sunday, a Friday travel day on Monday and a gameday Saturday on Tuesday.

Then they get to do it all over again as the next game is the Thursday after. And as a coach, it’s driving him crazy.

‘Football coaches, we thrive on routine,’ Clawson said. ‘You do this Tuesday, you do this Wednesday. We try to keep it as routine as we can and hopefully that will work.’

Mahone’s back

Senior safety P.J. Mahone will return to the Falcons for the Buffalo game.

Mahone has finished serving a six-game suspension and fulfilled all other obligations to Clawson and the athletic department to be reinstated to the team.

Sophomore Keith Morgan replaced Mahone in the lineup and has gone on to lead the team in tackles. He is still listed atop the depth chart, but Clawson did not definitively name a starter.

‘We’re going to split the reps [in practice],’ Clawson said. ‘We’ll evaluate that as we go the next few days.’

Injuries

Of the injured players on the Falcon roster, none are expected to be available for Tuesday’s game.

Offensive linemen Ben Bojicic and Brady Minturn were both listed as doubtful and wide receiver Ray Hutson was a ‘longshot’ to return.

Senior tight end Jimmy Scheidler, who missed a few games earlier in the season with an ankle injury, said the 10 days off will give his ankle enough time to get back to 100 percent.

‘Having this bye week has really given it a lot of time to heal,’ Scheidler said.

Barnes’ Biletnikoff

Senior Freddie Barnes made his public comments about being named a semifinalist for the 2009 Fred Biletnikoff Award yesterday.

‘Once I saw the list of the people that were on it with me, I was just taken aback a little just because the guys are great athletes and I respect them a lot,’ Barnes said.

With nation-leading marks in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, Clawson said he thinks his receiver should win the award outright, but not because of those particular stats.

‘I think he should win it in terms of what a player means to a team,’ Clawson said. ‘That’s not to disrespect anyone else who is up for the award.’

TV time

With a Tuesday night spent in Buffalo, some players may miss some of their favorite shows. But for Scheidler and several other Falcons, as long as they are back by Wednesday night, everything will all right.

‘I’m a Real World type of guy,’ Scheidler said. ‘It’s not just me, it’s my other five roommates that I live with who are on the football team. If you’re going to throw me under the bus, you are going to have to throw them under the bus.’

Scheidler said he lives with linebacker Cody Basler and offensive linemen Scott Albert, Shane Steffy and Minturn.

Barnes was more concerned with finding a TV last night so he could watch his best friend Julian Wright make his season-debut with the New Orleans Hornets. Barnes said the two grew up around the corner from each other in the Chicago area.

‘We met in eighth grade,’ Barnes said. ‘Ever since then, we’ve been best friends.”