ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Running back Fred Jackson doesn’t have the time or patience to figure out the various scenarios that ensure the Buffalo Bills staying alive in the AFC playoff picture for one more week.

Jackson’s only concern is Buffalo (8-6) traveling to play Oakland (2-12) on Sunday.

“I haven’t looked at it because it’s all irrelevant if we don’t win,” Jackson said Wednesday. “That’s the number one thing we’ve got to focus on is taking care of our business.”

The Bills’ playoff chances have come down to winning and hoping for a team that will be eliminated with a loss or tie.

Beating Oakland might not be enough either. Because of tiebreaking formulas, Buffalo ranks ninth out of the AFC’s nine teams with eight more wins.

At 9-6, Buffalo would still be eliminated should Pittsburgh and Baltimore, both 9-5, win Sunday, and Cincinnati (9-4-1) defeats Denver on Monday.

The chances of making the playoffs don’t get much easier even if the Bills stay alive beyond this weekend.

They close their schedule at New England, where the Bills have never won since Gillette Field opened in 2002.

Difficult as it might be for the Bills to not control their own destiny, several veterans are encouraged with how a team in the midst of a 14-season playoff drought still has hope.

“I probably wish we’d be in a more controlling position, but being in the hunt, I’m not surprised,” said center Eric Wood.

BROWNS: Rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel believes he can bounce back from his dreadful debut as a starter.

Manziel threw a pair of interceptions and hardly looked like Cleveland’s future in Sunday’s 30-0 loss to Cincinnati.

But Manziel is determined to play better at Carolina and said the key is for him to trust what he’s seeing on the field and “then go out and let it fly.”

CHARGERS: Quarterback Philip Rivers didn’t practice Wednesday, although he expects to play Saturday against the 49ers. He’s listed as having chest and back injuries.

PANTHERS: Cam Newton returned to practice eight days after an automobile accident left him with two fractures in his lower back.

But Coach Ron Rivera wouldn’t say if he’ll start Newton or Derek Anderson in a game with playoff implications for the Panthers, who are a half-game behind New Orleans in the NFC South with two games left.

49ERS: Defensive lineman Ray McDonald was released amid a sexual assault investigation by San Jose police.

“While this organization has a strong belief in due process and has demonstrated that over time, Ray’s demonstrated a pattern of poor decision-making that has led to multiple distractions to this organization and this football team that really can no longer be tolerated,” General Manager Trent Baalke said.

Police are investigating McDonald after a hospital notified police late Tuesday that a woman was seeking treatment for an assault.

BEARS: Quarterback Jay Cutler reportedly is benched in favor of Jimmy Clausen for Sunday’s game against Detroit, according to ESPN.

The move is a seismic shift for an organization that has exalted Cutler as a franchise player.

A FEDERAL JUDGE dismissed a lawsuit by 1,300 former players against the NFL, writing that the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the union was the appropriate forum to resolve claims that teams damaged the players by routinely dispensing painkillers.