The Bills defense has had to rely on a few veteran players while Marcell Dareus was out on suspension, Reggie Ragland went to I-R and Shaq Lawson was rehabbing. All of them have performed admirably.
Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Here’s the Bills news of note for Oct. 6th.
1 – Exceeding expectations
When Buffalo signed defensive free agents like Lorenzo Alexander, Zach Brown, and Corey White they were largely seen as role players on special teams and defense. Through the first month of the season however, they’ve exceeded expectations in the eyes of head coach Rex Ryan.
“We knew we were getting really good football players, but when Zach Brown leads the NFL in tackles that’s a great sign,” said Ryan. “That probably exceeds expectations. We thought he’d play well, but I don’t know if anybody expected him to play this well.
“Alexander I think is second in the AFC in sacks with Jerry Hughes. And oh by the way he’s playing great on special teams. We all knew he could play that way on special teams, but at the beginning of the year we did not see this role coming for him, but he earned it and is doing a tremendous job for us.”
Corbin Bryant has also stepped in admirably for the suspended Marcell Dareus, who returned to the team this week. White had to step in for an injured Ronald Darby in Week 3 against Arizona and had nine tackles and an interception.
“Overall it would be ridiculous for me not to say that those guys combined have probably exceeded our expectations,” Ryan said.
2 – Offensive tackles on the mend
Buffalo’s offensive tackles have been in and out of the lineup through the course of the first month of the season. Cordy Glenn came off a high ankle sprain and got through last week’s game. Cyrus Kouandjio missed the game with an ankle injury suffered in Week 3, and Jordan Mills got nicked up in the latter stages of the New England game and was replaced by Michael Ola. And Seantrel Henderson is back off suspension.
“Jordan is going to be just fine,” said Ryan. “Cordy did a great job. We had 86 snaps on offense, so we hope we have that many again. That would be outstanding. Cordy played well in the game and got through the game, but he’s sore right now. We get Seantrel back we’ll see where he’s at.
“Then the new guy, Ola, he just steps in and he was ready to go (last Sunday). We thought he was going to have to start after two days of practice and Cordy was like, ‘I’m ready.’ So we love the kid’s attitude.
“Kouandjio is coming back from an ankle. He’s rehabbing. He’s making strides and quickly.”
Glenn and Kouandjio did not practice Wednesday. Henderson and Mills did practice. Michael Ola lined up at the starting left tackle position in the absence of Glenn and Kouandjio.
Ryan also said they’ll wait and see on making the decision to add Henderson back to the active roster. Buffalo currently has an exemption for both Henderson and Marcell Dareus. They have until Monday at 4 pm to move both players onto the active roster. Dareus is expected to play Sunday.
3 – O’Leary emerging
Earlier in the week the Bills decided to release veteran TE Jim Dray. The move was due in part to the enhanced versatility and emergence of second-year TE Nick O’Leary. O’Leary saw his most extensive action last week at New England and was a factor in both the run and pass game.
QB Tyrod Taylor felt it was only a matter of time.
“He’s always been able to catch the football, it was just a matter of time before he could go out there and play with the confidence that he knew that he could at this level,” said Taylor. “If you watch the preseason games, every time the ball comes to him, he makes the play. Preseason versus the regular season is different, he’s had a couple of opportunities to go out there and make a play and he’s done it. Definitely a valuable receiver and a playmaker. Every time the ball gets to him he makes the play. So we’ll continue to feed a guy like that the football.”