Katherine Fitzgerald
When it comes to their secondary, the Buffalo Bills aren’t exactly where they’d like to be.
Just one week before the Bills began game-week preparations for their season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, presumed starting cornerbacks Christian Benford and Tre’Davious White had both missed practice on Aug. 27, the lone practice open to media last week. White was dealing with a lower-leg injury, and Benford’s injury was unspecified.
They weren't the only ones to have missed time. Far from it.
First-round rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston begins the season on injured reserve with a sprain LCL, which he suffered during training camp.
And even before the issues piled up at cornerback, defensive coordinator Bobby Babich acknowledged that there was a lot going on with the Bills' safeties.
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“I think when you look at it, there's a lot of different pieces, moving pieces right now,” Babich said last month. “We're seeing progress – maybe it's delayed progress, but we're seeing progress in the way that we want it to go, whether that be from injury, availability, but we'll be good.”
Moving pieces is the best way to describe the state of the Bills’ secondary. The team worked through different injuries in camp as they worked in younger players and veteran returnees. As they gear up for Sunday and the Ravens, let alone another attempt at a long season aimed at that elusive Super Bowl berth, they’ll need to answer some questions quickly.
‘Other guys we believe in’
Benford’s undisclosed injury is reason to give fans pause, but the biggest question looms across the field.
Hairston is out through at least Week 4, having suffered a knee injury July 29. With Hairston injured, White was poised to be the starter. Now, that’s in question, too.
General manager Brandon Beane clarified that White’s injury is not season-ending, but that his Week 1 status was being determined.
And if White can’t go?
“We've got other guys we believe in,” Beane said last week. “The other guys on the 53 and then we'll have the guys on the practice squad ready to roll. We're very confident in who we have.”
A longtime veteran and McDermott favorite, he was a cap casualty last offseason who stumbled through a tough year. White, now 30, played four games last season with the L.A. Rams, who traded him in November to Baltimore. He played seven games there in a reserve role and, upon entering free agency, rejoined the Bills as something of an insurance policy.
When White is ready to go, he’ll still have work to do. There were times throughout camp when he got beaten and was clearly frustrated.
“There's some things with Tre’Davious, like all these guys, that we've got to improve on,” Babich said. “But there (are) flashes of that Tre White in there still that we know. So, there's a couple things that we got to make sure that he ties the bow on. But again, we just want to continue to see him grow here back in the system.”
The balance has been there since the Bills brought back White this offseason, of understanding where he’s at realistically while having strong emotions for what White already has done for the team. McDermott used his first-ever Bills draft pick to take the cornerback out of LSU. But that nostalgia has to be met with production.
“We all love Tre, we love him,” McDermott said. “I think the biggest thing for us was, and this is where it comes in, is physically we're trying to get the best feel possible on where he was physically because of the last year or two prior to coming back here.”
Until his latest injury, the Bills felt that White was on the right track. His extra sprints up the hill after practice ended at St. John Fisher University was validation.
“So, I'm sure, all the work he's put in, you see him on the 'Hard Knocks' running the hills, and that's not for the cameras, that's really who he is,” McDermott said of White. “So, generally speaking, any time you put in that amount of work to get back, it's got to feel really good.”
Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears NFL Preseason Football
Bills defenders Cole Bishop, left, and Dorian Strong tackle Bears receiver D.J. Moore during a preseason game Aug. 17 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
‘There was already a fire’
For the second straight year, Bills second-year safety Cole Bishop missed significant time during training camp, this time with a quadriceps injury. Once he returned to the lineup, Babich saw daily improvement.
“We're falling right back into where we need to be,” Babich said. “Missed time is missed time. And I think Sean's talked about it. But the thing we're looking for with all these guys is growth every day.”
Late in the preseason, McDermott said the spot opposite veteran safety Taylor Rapp was still open.
“I think we're looking for that other safety to play alongside a T-Rapp. … Right now, for us, we know who T-Rapp is, we know what he brings to the table. It's what other piece can go along with T-Rapp,” McDermott said Aug. 19.
Two days later, the coach had a slightly softer tone, noting that missed time was the main factor for Bishop.
“As I said before, fully confident in Cole,” McDermott said Aug. 21. “It’s the reps that he needs to create these calluses that you get when you’re young and trying to grow in a position. But being out there is how you get that experience.”
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Bishop felt he was doing everything behind the scenes to first rehab and then comeback, so McDermott’s point about an open spot didn’t necessarily increase motivation.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it lit a fire,” Bishop said. “There was already a fire. I was already trying to do everything I could.”
When the Bills brought back veteran safety Jordan Poyer to the practice squad later in August, Beane said it did not signal any lack of confidence in the current group of safeties.
“No,” Beane said. “Anytime you could have two five-year starters, but if Jordan Poyer is around, what he’s done for our team, and he’s like, 'Yes, I would love to be a part of this.' Those five-year players would be like, ‘Yes, I’d love to have Jordan Poyer too.’ So that’s really it.”
Playing in space
Bishop can be expected to be the starter alongside Rapp once again. Part of why Bishop’s role is so critical is that the Bills' defense asks a lot of its safeties.
Babich noted that the way teams approach safety has evolved over the years. There’s not always the stringent roles of free safety and strong safety anymore, when players can be interchangeable.
“The priority for us is space play,” Babich said. “To be able to play in space … in a big area of space, you know? And that's across the defense of space play being an important factor to us, specifically. Fifty-three and a third (yards), baby, that's what we're defending.”
Asked about Rapp specifically, Babich detailed how he sees Rapp as a player who’s able to be versatile.
“He's made a lot of plays in deep zones here,” Babich said of Rapp. “He's taking the ball away in a lot of deep zones here. So, this whole perception of, you know, deep zone players versus, we know what we look for, and we know who the good deep zone players are, because there's a lot that goes into it, other than speed and athleticism. There is so much more to it when you really break it down. So, I think Taylor Rapp is a very good deep zone defender.”
Bishop and Rapp were able to build their rapport over the offseason, with both spending the majority of it in Western New York. As Bishop gears up for a starting role, that time becomes invaluable.
“We’ve been here for the whole offseason and everything,” Bishop said. “I feel like we’ve had a great relationship since then. So, just keep trying to make that stronger and keep trying to make sure we’re on the same page.”
The two planned to be there together, with Rapp and his wife expecting a baby, and with Bishop wanting to be near the facility. Bishop believes that deeper connection will translate to the field.
“It gets loud out there,” Bishop said. “Being able to know what each other are thinking by just looking at each other, even if it’s a little hand signal or anything like that, just trying to be on the exact same page.”
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