The second-year pro had 1 interception vs. Carolina, but it wasn’t his fault.
By Nick Wojton / billswire.usatodaay.com
No matter what happens in his future, the Buffalo Bills, and the man himself in Nathan Peterman, will wish his NFL debut went much differently in 2017.
Peterman tossed five interception against the Los Angeles Chargers en route to a 54-24 loss for the Bills. It was his first-career start as Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott surprisingly decided to bench then-starter Tyrod Taylor.
Fast forward to Thursday. The Bills started their 2018 preseason campaign against the Carolina Panthers. Peterman, who’s in a three-way quarterback battle with AJ McCarron and rookie Josh Allen to win Buffalo’s starting job on opening day, received the first start of the preseason and preformed well.
Following the meaningless 28-23 loss for Buffalo, McDermott dusted off a phrase he last used, well… the last time he picked Peterman as his started.
“I just felt like [starting Peterman] was the right thing to do for us right now. We’ll go back and look at the film, evaluate, and move forward,” McDermott said.
Overall, Peterman went 9-for-10 with 119 passing yards with a touchdown and interception. His first nine passes were completed before the pick, which was just as much Chris Ivory’s fault as his own.
“Yeah, that interception. You know there are always things to learn from. I’m never going to play a perfect game, but I’m always going to strive for that, and strive for perfection, and try to be better every game that I play,” Peterman said.
And to McDermott’s credit, starting Peterman did seem like the right thing to do. He showed a trait on Thursday that the Bills were likely aware of when they made him a fifth-round pick in at the 2017 draft.
Despite many football fans simply remembering Peterman for his start against the Chargers, has the strong mental makeup to put a rough career start behind him. He’s proven it already.
At the University of Tennessee in 2013, Peterman made his first-career college start. His final line read: 4-for-11 passing for five yards, with two interceptions and a fumble. He was benched.
Sounds a lot like Nov. 19, 2017.
That start left Peterman out of favor at Tennessee. He left and transferred to the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a starting job. In 2016, Peterman’s Pitt topped the Tigers 43-42. Later that year, Clemson won the national title. It was the lone loss Clemson had the entire year, and Peterman’s 22-for-37 passing, 308 yards and 5 touchdowns was the difference maker.
From 2013 to 2016, Peterman changed. Can he change in a mere few months between a disastrous first NFL start to win Buffalo’s starting job? So far, Peterman said he feel he has grown since 2017.
“A lot. I think I am growing every time I take the field, and every game I play. I’m just trying to continue to do that, and I definitely have a long way to go,” Peterman said.
Peterman certainly does have a long way to go. The first quarter of a preseason game isn’t exactly a full-fledged, heartfelt, comeback story. He still has to hold off AJ McCarron, who played well against the Panthers, if he’s going to win the starting job.
But why not be happy for a step in the right direction? Peterman took a first step in the right direction against the Indianapolis Colts later in 2017, but the blizzard is the only thing most remember.
Let the national narrative around Peterman be his start against the Chargers. Western New York can still acknowledge Peterman played well on Thursday.
“Every time you are out there, you want to play your best and you
want to complete every ball. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, there are definitely things to get better at. It’s just one step, and you have to make a lot more steps and get a lot better and remember this is just the first preseason game, so there’s a lot more to come,” Peterman said.
Peterman’s climb to continue his improvement continues on Friday as the Bills will be right back at it with a training camp practice at 4:45 pm from Orchard Park.