Bills head coach Sean McDermott is keeping his offensive linemen on their toes.
Heading into his team’s second game of the year against the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo’s coach did not slam the door closed on changes coming to those blocking on offense. Notably in Week 1 during the Bills’ loss to the Steelers, the O-line struggled.
“We’ll see, we’re going through it,” McDermott said via video conference on Wednesday. “That’s true every week, though. We want to compete during the week, see where we’re at.”
The Steelers managed to pressure Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen consistently. Not only was play poor, so were the numerous inopportune holding penalties taken by the Bills.
There were seven, in total.
The lone offensive lineman to not take one in the game for Buffalo was Cody Ford. Still, the guard was replaced briefly by Ike Boettger in the first half so that’s not a positive sign.
Breaking this one down, McDermott did not outright say there will be any changes.
But he was asked specifically about the possibility of making a switch. In his answer, there is an opportunity for the coach to say no. He did not.
McDermott’s comment also echoed those of offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. On Monday, Daboll said he would make playing time for offensive linemen a “week-by-week” operation.
While the alarm bells might be ringing for some when it comes to Buffalo’s offensive line, it might be a bit premature. The group should certainly be on notice moving forward, but if there’s one grain of salt to take from Week 1, it’s that the opponent was the Steelers.
Few teams in the NFL have a front-four pass rush like Pittsburgh. Buffalo will have to be better but it simply is a positive that the Steelers will not be on the other sideline for the rest of the regular season.
And for what it’s worth, in an unsurprising fashion, Allen is confident in his offensive line still.
“By no means has anybody lost any confidence in them,” Allen said via video conference. “There’s no loss in confidence.”
Bear in mind, i’s not like he was going to say anything else about the guys protecting him.
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