By Brad Gelber / Billswire.usatoday.com
During his weekly segment, the “Lo-Down,” on the Buffalo Bills’ radio network, Bills linebacker and special teams ace, Lorenzo Alexander, gave an inside look on the special teams problem plaguing the team.
Alexander and fellow captain Stephen Hauschka led a players-only meeting to reiterate the importance of special teams, following last week’s debacle vs. the Houston Texans, that saw the Bills muff a punt, almost lose the ball on the opening kickoff and worst of all, have their own punt blocked.
“The last two weeks I think we’ve fallen off in that area [special teams] a little bit. This week we got together, just as a teams unit, just to reemphasize the mentality of special teams, as far as… setting up the offense and defense. And then, making sure guys, because we have a young team that… this is not cause you have to do it, you have to have a mindset, ‘I want to do it’, until you have an opportunity on offense and defense,” Alexander said.
Alexander pointed out that while some players might not take their special teams’ assignment as seriously as they would an offensive or defensive role, that is a mistake given what the last two games have proven.
“I think sometimes you get caught up in that, especially when you’ve been the guy all your life and all your career and now you’re a backup and playing teams… sometimes you don’t feel like it’s as important, but as we saw the last two weeks, it plays a significant part in the game and it can actually lose you some games, but we want to be a reason why we’re winning and not… something we have to overcome to win,” Alexander said.
One of the important takeaways from the meeting is that everyone is allowed to have a voice, regardless of seniority. It can’t just be up to the captains to make sure that everyone is doing their job.
“I think sometimes, people wait for other guys to say something,” Alexander added. “Whether it’s me, or Hauschka, or Kyle (Williams)… like no, we need you to do it. You’re a professional. Guys look up to you as well. You play at a high level. So start calling guys out and hold them accountable and don’t wait for somebody else to say something, cause you have that power,” Alexander said.
While players-only meetings can sometimes be looked at in a negative light, Alexander thinks that this meeting should set a positive tone for the special teams unit moving forward.
“They heard me, it wasn’t personal or anything, but I really expect those guys to step their game up on the field and as far as being a leader as well,” he said.
The Bills will have a chance to get their 21st ranked, special team unit turned around when they head to Indianapolis on Sunday to face the 1-5 Colts. It will be worth watching the special teams unit to see if in the end this players-only meeting helps, or doesn’t make a difference at all.