What Bills’ Sean McDermott said about signing Devonta Freeman

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott on signing RB Devonta Freeman.

The Buffalo Bills threw a curveball into their running back decision on Tuesday and it goes by the name of Devonta Freeman.

Buffalo (13-3) added the veteran free agent rusher, who was recently released by the New York Giants, ahead of their Divisional round matchup against the Baltimore Ravens (11-5). That decision came on the heels of Zack Moss (ankle) being placed on injured reserve.

Moss was dinged up against the Indianapolis Colts in the Bills’ 27-24 Wild Card round win. Most point to and assume Devin Singletary, who was splitting carries with Moss, will take on No. 1 duties. But that still means he needs his backup, a guy who could see playing time himself vs. the Ravens.

Freeman gives the Bills an intriguing option and Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said his experience having to defend against Freeman personally in the past made him a desirable addition.

“I had the unfortunate opportunity to go against him in the NFC South for a number of years so I had a front row seat to witness what he’s capable of doing. Bringing him into the running back room I think was a good move by Brandon (Beane). He adds to what we have and we’ll try to get him up to speed as quickly as possible,” McDermott said via video conference.

Naturally the biggest question with Freeman potentially playing is can he get up to speed? That’s a big ask in a few days, the Bills didn’t feel comfortable enough last week with forcing wide receiver Kenny Stills to do so… as he, like Freeman, was a late-season addition to the team’s practice squad.

“It’s a lot of information to digest in a short amount of time,” McDermott added. “That’s kind of the biggest challenge.”

One to always try to keep his opponent guessing, McDermott will not be revealing what the team will do. The decision comes down to Freeman, TJ Yeldon and Antonio Williams, who like Freeman is also on Buffalo’s practice squad.

“TJ Yeldon has played in a lot of games and at a high level and you take it all the way down to Antonio and what we saw him do a few weeks ago,” McDermott said.

Really we won’t have any idea what McDermott will do until about just before 7 p.m. on Saturday.

On Friday is when the Bills will likely make any callups from the practice squad. Still, even if McDermott decides to call up Freeman, Williams, or both, 90 minutes before kickoff teams announce their inactive lists for a game. The Bills have previously called up players and still left them inactive on game day.

So nothing in regard to the No. 2 running back spot will be fully settled until game day. Looking back on the way the Bills handled Stills, it would be a surprise to see Freeman get such a quick callup, but the coach, at minimum, left that option on the table as of Wednesday.

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Jordan Devey not Antonio Williams replaces Zack Moss on Bills roster

Buffalo Bills sign OL Jordan Devey from practice squad, not RB Antonio Williams. Make Devonta Freeman signing official.

The Buffalo Bills confirmed a few roster moves on Tuesday ahead of their Divisional round meeting with the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.

Running back Zack Moss (ankle) officially had his season come to an end. He was placed on the team’s injured reserve list. Taking his place on the team’s 53-man roster was offensive lineman Jordan Devey.

Positionally, Antonio Williams could have been the player most pointed to on the Bills practice to replace Moss on Buffalo’s roster. Williams impressed in the Bills’ season finale against the Miami Dolphins with two touchdowns and is the one of only two running backs on the team’s practice squad (Christian Wade).

Instead it’s Devey, who was only active once on game day in 2020. In Buffalo’s Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts, Devey was called up from the team’s practice squad but was inactive on game day.

However, despite not signing to the 53-man roster, Williams can still be called up from Buffalo’s practice squad ahead of their meeting with the Ravens (11-5), that won’t come till Friday at the earliest, though.

In addition, the Bills (13-3) officially announced the team signed running back Devonta Freeman to the practice squad as well. He’s also eligible to play vs. the Ravens, however, upon signing wide receiver Kenny Stills to their practice squad last week, Buffalo did not call him up from the taxi squad for their game vs. the Colts. That might be indicative of how the Bills would handle Freeman’s addition.

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Sean McDermott: Devin Singletary ‘capable’ to carry load without Zack Moss

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott updates running back situation on Devin Singletary, Zack Moss.

The Buffalo Bills rarely reveal any plans of theirs. Head coach Sean McDermott often keeps his cards close to his chest.

In regard to the latest news surrounding the Bills’ running back room, McDermott did let his guard down a tad.

Most would expect the next-man up to be second-year pro Devin Singletary. That appears to be confirmed, a bit, by the coach on Monday after McDermott confirmed the news that rookie rusher Zack Moss would miss the rest of the playoffs with an ankle injury.

“I told (Singletary) it’s his time to step up,” McDermott said via video conference. “This team is one hundred percent confident in Devin Singletary.”

“He’s very aware of that and more than capable,” McDermott added.

While the Bills coach did reveal a little nugget in there, it’s not the most shocking thing. During the regular season, Moss and Singletary had split snaps for the most part. After the midpoint of the year, Moss did start to see the slight edge on Singletary in terms of snaps played, but both guys were getting touches.

In 13 games, Moss averaged 4.3 yards per carry, putting up 481 total. Singletary saw his yards per carry drop from 5.1 a year ago to 4.4 in 2020. Moss led the Buffalo running back room with 687 yards, but didn’t miss time like Moss had. Singletary did feature as the Bills’ pass-catching back more than double the amount of Moss as well, notching 38 catches to the rookie’s 14.

Where the more intriguing decision lies is replacing Moss’s roster spot. In most cases during the season, when both Moss and Singletary were healthy, they were the only running backs active on game day. Behind them for most of the year was presumably TJ Yeldon.

Yeldon appeared in three games for Buffalo in 2020, Weeks 3-5, while Moss was injured. In that time, Yeldon had 10 carries for 70 yards with one catch for 22 yards, which also went for a touchdown. In Buffalo’s other 13 games, he was mostly inactive or on the team’s COVID-19 list for a brief time.

But since Yeldon’s time in the lineup, another running back has captured the hearts of those in western New York, Antonio Williams. Formerly an undrafted rookie this past offseason, Williams has been on and off of Buffalo’s practice squad all year. In Week 17 he was finally called up from the taxi squad and produced with a big game which included two touchdowns against the Miami Dolphins.

Finally there’s Christian Wade, the international who shined in the 2019 preseason.

McDermott mentioned all three players as potential replacements, perhaps in an effort not to give away too much intel to the Baltimore Ravens ahead of their Round 2 meeting on Saturday, but McDermott did add a little extra on Williams.

“We’ll look at guys on our roster that we have a lot of confidence in, T.J [Yeldon], Antonio [Williams], Christian [Wade]. We’ll take a look at what our options are,” McDermott said.

“He certainly popped,” McDermott mentioned on Williams.

The Bills could go numerous ways with their decision, but rolling with Singletary primarily would appear to be the smartest play on paper.

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9 studs, 3 duds in Bills’ 56-26 win over Dolphins

Studs and duds from the Buffalo Bills’ Week 17 win over the Miami Dolphins.

In terms of a top-to-bottom effort from a team in the NFL, it’s hard to get much better than the effort the Buffalo Bills gave against the Miami Dolphins in Week 17.

When the Bills (13-3) put their starters in? Great work. Then when the Dolphins (10-6) took on Buffalo’s backups? They still were too much for the visitors to handle.

After looking at the tape and letting the dust settle, here are nine studs and three duds from the Bills in their win over the Dolphins:

Duds

RB Devin Singletary

Both Devin Singletary and Zack Moss only had three carries in this one. Moss had eight yards to Singletary’s seven. Neither guy had much of a workload, but Singletary usually has a promising catch or two. Instead, Moss turned heads in that role with an angry run early off a grab in the flat. Both will have more opportunities in the playoffs.

TE Dawson Knox

Dawson Knox had a nice catch late from Matt Barkley 20 yards down the field, but his effort came into question on a deep target on an early third down. In addition, Knox had eight targets throughout the game and only hauled in two of them. That’s not great for a guy who’s not exactly a touted blocker.

Sloppy starts

Slight bit of nervous energy there from the Bills in the first quarter, specifically on offense. Passes sailed, running plays went nowhere, balls were dropped, drives were not extended. Not a lot went right for the Bills in the opening quarter, as the team only gained 42 total yards and turned the ball over. Somehow, all whopping 56 points came after the first frame.

Push

CB Josh Norman

The veteran cornerback had a pick-six interception, Josh Norman’s first since 2015 when he was back with the Panthers. However, DeVante Parker finished with seven catches for 116 yards. Parker has a thing for solid games against the Bills, but about half of his grabs, slightly more even, came against Norman. Levi Wallace allowed his longest grab, though.

WR Andre Roberts

Andre Roberts is a deserved Pro Bowler. But he has one big problem as Buffalo’s return man: Roberts never scores. Isaiah McKenzie took backup snaps in the this role for Roberts and he scored the Bills’ first punt return touchdown since 2014. Funny how things work like that sometimes.

Report card: Bills top Dolphins, 56-26

Buffalo Bills Week 17 report card after a 56-26 win vs. the Miami Dolphins.

There might not be enough ways to describe what the Buffalo Bills did to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. In the Bills’ season finale, things went brutal for the Dolphins as Buffalo won 56-26.

The game was not only painful to watch for Miami, it was season-ending as the Dolphins (10-6)  later went on to miss out on the postseason due to their loss to the Bills (13-3). That comes in a year when two teams in the NFC (Bears, Football Team), made the postseason with a .500 or worse record.

Double ouch.

Following the huge regular season ending win for Buffalo, here’s how Bills Wire graded out them out in Week 17:

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ win over the Dolphins

The Bills won their final game of the season and moved to 13-3 over their dismantling of the Miami Dolphins.

In the regular season finale the Buffalo Bills asserted their dominance over the Miami Dolphins with a 56-26 victory. It surprised most with the fact that the majority of starters played the first half, but it worked out perfectly for Buffalo (13-3). In that first half the Bills hung 28 on the ‘Fins (10-6), with all 28 being scored in the second quarter. Buffalo’s star quarterback Josh Allen had 224 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, putting the game away early.

But while it was a huge game against from the Bills QB, a number of Bills players affected the outcome of this one. Here’s Bills Wire’s latest stock report following their win over the Dolphins in Week 17:

Stock up

Isaiah McKenzie

The pre-game build up was all about the return of Josh Brown, we guess Isaiah McKenzie didn’t get the memo? McKenzie was the star of the show in the first half, catching two touchdowns, and adding an electric 84-yard punt return for a touchdown.

A hat-trick of touchdowns are always impressive, but this was his best game in terms of catches and yards. McKenzie had six grabs for 65 yards as well. Not bad. The Bills have Super Bowl aspirations, and if they want to win it, they’ll need performances like this from their rotational players.

Dean Marlowe
Dean Marlowe has been with the Bills since 2017 and has been used sparingly since. This isn’t to slight Marlowe, he just happens to be behind two of the best safeties in the league, but against Miami, he shined. Marlowe played the majority of the second half, and produced two interceptions.
His two picks came off two overthrows from rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and Marlowe was in the right place at the right time. Outside of the two picks he also broke up two other passes, an impressive outing from the backup.
Antonio Williams

If you were one of the people watching the game, and said “who?” when running back Antonio Williams entered the game, you’re not alone. Williams was either on the Bills practice squad or was being cut for most of the year.

The rookie from North Carolina had an excellent debut, he led the team in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. Williams ended the game with 12 carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns. He also contributed in the passing game, with one catch that went for 20 yards.

Corey Bojorquez

Punter Corey Bojorquez has established himself as one of the best punters in the NFL this season and against the Dolphins he had some excellent punts. Bojorquez had just four boots, with two of them landing inside the 20 yard line. One of them even landed inside of the one-yard line for a coffin corner.

Honorable mentions:

Josh Allen had a great first half with 224 yards and three touchdowns, while breaking the Bills single-season record for passing yards. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds had nine tackles, one for loss, and a sack. Finally, rookie kicker Tyler Bass (or Tyler Bas$$ if you’re cool), broke Buffalo’s single season point record with his eight extra points made.

Bills re-sign CB Cam Lewis to practice squad

Cam Lewis is signed to the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.

After likely releasing him to make room for cornerback Josh Norman on the team’s 53-man roster heading into Week 4’s meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, the Buffalo Bills have re-signed cornerback Cam Lewis to their practice squad.

The team announced the signing on Friday. In a corresponding move, the Bills have released running back Antonio Williams from their practice squad. Williams has been released and re-signed to Buffalo’s practice squad multiple times already this season.

Lewis, a former UDFA signing of the Bills out of the University at Buffalo, has either been called up to or on the Bills’ game day roster each outing this season, but has only contributed on 15 special teams snaps.

If Norman’s future holds true, he’ll make his debut in Week 4 after suffering a hamstring injury during training camp. Check back at Bills Wire over the weekend to see if that speculation becomes true.

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Buffalo Bills add 2 to practice squad

Buffalo Bills sign two players, Antonio Williams, Nate Becker, to practice squad, move Evan Boehm to injured list.

Running back Antonio Williams and Nate Becker were re-signed by the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday. The pair of players will join the team’s practice squad, the team announced.

The signings comes as little surprise as the Bills hosted both on free-agent visits on Monday, as opposed to workouts which are less likely to turn into signings.

In a corresponding move, offensive lineman Evan Boehm was moved to the practice squad injured list. Boehm, who appeared in 13 games with the Dolphins last season and signed with the Bills this offseason, hasn’t yet appeared in a game for Buffalo in 2020. The Bills did not disclose the nature of his injured yet.  In Week 2 vs. the Dolphins, Buffalo’s starting tight end Dawson Knox left the game early due to a concussion. Considering Becker’s familiarity with the Bills offense, it would not be surprising to see him join the team’s practice squad, at least temporarily, to provide depth.

Becker spent time with the Bills over the past two training camps and had a little time on their practice squad as well in 2019.

Williams was an undrafted rookie free agent signee of the Bills following the 2020 NFL Draft. He has since been cut twice by the Bills. He briefly took a graduate assistant coaching position with his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, but promptly left it to re-join the Bills.

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Report: Bills to re-sign RB Antonio Williams

Buffalo Bills rookie running back Antonio Williams is re-signing with the team.

As training camp winds down this week, the Buffalo Bills are reportedly re-signing a running back who was released earlier this month. That player is former undrafted rookie free agent Antonio Williams.

Williams was cut by the Bills on Aug. 5 to make room for two players who came off their Reserve/ COVID-19 list. The running back’s return was reported by Syracuse.com. Ironically enough, the Bills currently have some roster space because of a few moves recently made by the team. One of which was cornerback Ike Brown retiring and he was previously one of the two players Williams helped make room for earlier this month when he was cut.

After Williams was released by the Bills prior to ever even getting on the practice field, he returned to the University of North Carolina where he was working as a graduate assistant coach. Currently the Bills have a few dinged up backs which could allow Williams a brief opportunity to impress.

Rookie Zack Moss was in a non-contract red jersey during Sunday’s practice due to a neck injury. Special teams ace and rusher Taiwan Jones and international back Christian Wade have also missed time due to knee and quad injuries, respectively.

Williams previously played college ball at Ohio State being transferring to UNC.

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Bills bring back Siran Neal, Ike Brown from COVID list, cut two others

Buffalo Bills defensive backs Siran Neal, Ike Brown, activated from COVID-19 list while Antonio Williams, Jonathan Woodard are released.

The Buffalo Bills brought a pair of players back from their COVID-19/ Reserve list on Wednesday. Defensive backs Ike Brown and Siran Neal re-join the team’s roster following their designation for the coronavirus.

In a corresponding set of moves, running back Antonio Williams and defensive end Jonathan Woodard were released by the team.

Both Williams and Brown are undrafted rookie free agent signings of the Bills from earlier this offseason. However, the Bills’ cornerback room took a hit last week when EJ Gaines decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. By comparison, the Bills’ running back room is set with Devin Singletary and Zack Moss at the top, along with TJ Yeldon and Taiwan Jones in backup roles.

Neal is expected to feature as a versatile defender for the Bills in 2020, as both a safety and potential nickel cornerback.

Woodard has bounced around the league, and only appeared in regular season action in 2018 for the Dolphins. The Bills’ defensive end room is also one of the deeper groups on the team’s roster as things currently sit.

The Bills do currently have one open roster spot, but it’s expected that will be taken by offensive lineman Brian Winters in the coming days. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane previously said that new signees might have to wait up to five days before joining their new teammates due to safety precautions involving the coronavirus.

 

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