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No Emmanuel Sanders? Not the biggest problem.
That was a bit of the mantra the Buffalo Bills coaching staff gave off on Monday.
On Sunday in the Bills’ 33-27 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3), Buffalo (7-6) did not have the veteran for the second half.
He left the game with a knee injury and he’ll miss extended time.
According to Bills head coach Sean McDermott, Sanders is considered “week-to-week.” That means more Gabriel Davis, and the second-year wideout played in a season-high amount of snaps vs. the Bucs right away.
Buffalo’s coaching staff values the experience that Sanders brings and they’d certainly prefer him healthy. But Davis is a piece the Bills won’t think twice about going to.
“Really impressed with what Gabe did when he stepped in there,” McDermott said via video conference. “I thought he was very productive. Very detailed in his approach and he was where he was supposed to be and he made plays. That fourth down [catch], that was a big-time play for us in a critical moment.”
So far in 2021, Davis has 24 catches, 385 yards and four touchdowns with four games left. As a rookie last season, Davis had 35 grabs for 599 yards and seven scores.
The numbers isn’t a huge drop off, but Davis was likely hopeful to build much more on that. Much of that production came in a similar situation though, as Davis filled in for an injured John Brown in 2020.
Davis would’ve preferred to have an opportunity to be a starter across from Stefon Diggs this season… but this is a good silver lining.
Davis was ready last year when called upon, so he has that experience of stepping up when his team needs him most.
In fact, Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll thinks that Davis has even stepped up plenty this season already.
“For a young guy, Gabe’s a really good pro,” Daboll said via video conference. “The things we’ve asked him to do, he’s gone out and done it at a high level and I know that as a coaching staff, and the quarterback, has confidence in Gabe.”
In what could be his first of a few extended looks at filling in, Davis had five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown against the Buccaneers.
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