Tag: bills colts

Bills’ Dane Jackson on CB battle: ‘It’s always going to be a competition’

#Bills’ Dane Jackson on CB battle: ‘It’s always going to be a competition’

The Buffalo Bills hosted the Indianapolis Colts in Orchard Park on Saturday, quickly providing rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson with a proper welcome to the NFL.

Just under two minutes into the contest on Indy’s opening offensive drive, CB2 Dane Jackson read Richardson and positioned himself for a pick on an off-balance missed throw to set up the Bills first touchdown of the day. 

The interception came when Bills head coach and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott called a blitz on a second down play that saw defensive back Saran Neal pressure Richardson to throw.

“I felt real good, you know what I mean, I was able to just end with a good play” Jackson said after the game.

The interception was timely for the corner.

While he filled in effectively for CB1 Tre White while he recovered from an ACL injury and across from White for much of last season in the CB2 role, he is in a position battle competing with 2022 first-round pick, Kaiir Elam and sixth-round pick, Christian Benford.

Jackson got the start and only played the first series, leaving the game along with the rest of the starters, at which point Elam and Benford took over, with Benford also running first-team gunner with the punt unit on special teams.

“I feel like it’s the same,” Jackson shared about the competition. “It’s always going to be a competition I mean picking preseason unfortunately it don’t really matter, you know what I mean, so just got to keep stacking you got great competition between UCB and Kai here as well so I know they’re going to keep taking steps so I got to stay on mine as well.”

A seventh-round pick by Buffalo in the 2020 NFL Draft, Jackson has been longtime friends with S Damar Hamlin as they are both from the Pittsburgh area and teammates in college at PITT.

When he caught his interception Hamlin ran all the way over from the sideline to the endzone to celebrate with him. He even filmed Jackson’s locker room interview on his phone behind the press camera postgame.

“One thing about Dane, he’s always going to make a play,” said a smiling Hamlin after the game. “Just today, that was good for me, that kind of loosened me up a little bit just him having that interception so early. I’m always extra, extra happy for Dane.”

As for seeing his teammate and friend return to gameplay for the first time since his January 2nd cardiac arrest, it was meaningful as well.

“It was great to see him back out there.”

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Bills’ Sean McDermott ‘working through’ return to coordinator duties

#Bills’ Sean McDermott ‘working through’ return to coordinator duties:

The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts at home 23-19 in their preseason opener.

The game was the first of the preseason for the team and head coach McDermott, who made his return to defensive play calling in the contest. The last time that McDermott was a defensive coordinator was with the Carolina Panthers from 2011 to 2016 prior to becoming the Bills head coach.

He is known for being an aggressive play caller as a DC, which was noticeably on display during Saturday’s game.

The Bills defense mirrored that aggressiveness on the field, attacking the pocket and logging six quarterback hits and three sacks on the day in a strong showing despite a high number of penalties.

McDermott spoke after the game about those strengths, the need for consistency, and clean play.

“I thought there were some good things, we showed moments of our standard that we hold ourselves to, but not enough though,” The head coach said to the press. “We have to be more consistent starting with penalties, more discipline on pre-snap penalties because it hurts you.”

McDermott’s playcalling on defense helped make a difference early, opting to blitz on a second down play during the game’s first series in which defensive back Saran Neal forced rookie Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson to throw an interception that set up the Bills’ first touchdown.

“I’m still working through the communication piece,” McDermott added. “A preseason game is a little bit different than a regular-season game. We’ll go back, just like we do with the players, and evaluate that and talk about some areas that we’ve got to improve on. It was just kind of getting on the same cadence, when I’m going to be in certain spots and when I need information at times, and make sure that information is readily available when I need it.

Still, the coach noted, “It was a pretty good first game.”

The Bills defense is aiming to bounce back from last season’s injuries and return to the upper ranks of the NFL once again under McDermott and the teams’ coaching staff.

“It was fun to be back out there, rolling up my sleeves a little bit but still working through the communication piece.”

 

Bills RB Zack Moss remains upbeat while rehabbing ankle injury

Buffalo Bills RB Zack Moss discusses his rehabbing of the ankle injury which ended his season.

We haven’t heard from Bills running back Zack Moss, because the last time we saw him he was being carted off the field on Wild Card weekend with an injury.

That ankle situation occurred at the start of the fourth quarter of Buffalo’s eventual 27-24 Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts. It required surgery to repair which occurred on Jan. 20.

Moss is expected to be ready by offsesason workouts, but it’ll take some effort and rehab to get there which has already begun. The running back recently spoke via Vlog to EBA Sports and reflected positively his current injury situation, mentioning it has giving him an opportunity to reflect on his first pro season from a mental aspect as much as anything else.

“This injury just allows me to really refocus my mind and have a chance to go out there and just attack the rehab and… trying to find each and every way I can get better so that way I can go into next season knowing I did everything I could possibly do and then have no regrets going into the season,” Moss said.

Moss will certainly be in the fold for the Bills in 2021 so getting a fully healthy rusher back in the fold, both physically and mentally, will be of the upmost importance to the Bills.

Plus, as Moss’s rookie season rolled on, he did start to see a slightly-higher uptick in terms of workload. Moss and Devin Singletary saw a split in carries and touches for most of the 2020 season until later on when it was Moss getting a bit more work.

In total, Moss had 481 total rushing yards, a 4.3 yard per carry average on the ground in 2020. He added another 14 catches for 95 yards. Overall, Moss had five touchdowns.

Still, the Bills already expressed that they want better production out of their running backs next season. The Bills averaged 107.7 yards per game on the ground. That was good for only the 19th best rushing offense in the NFL.

Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane did not put the blame for rushing struggles on offense on Moss and Singletary at all during his end of season presser, but still expressed a desire for more out of them.

“Maybe a little more balance on the run game,” Beane said when discussing where he’s offseason efforts might be focused. “The ability to run it when you have to.”

Not quite specifically on Moss, but Buffalo’s 2020 rookie class in general will also be under the microscope from Bills head coach Sean McDermott, too. At his end of year interview, McDermott put an importance on rookie transition from their first season to second.

“The biggest challenge is, Year 1 to Year 2, what are you going to do with it?” McDermott said.

Moss might’ve heard both of those messages loud and clear… but so far, so good, as it appears he has a positive attitude during the early stages of his road to recovery.

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First Bills playoff game saw 10 fans ejected for facemask violations

10 Buffalo Bills fans were ejected from first playoff game vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills will have another home playoff game on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. Let’s make the AFC Divisional round finish with less ejections due to a mask-wearing violations… sound good?

The Bills (13-3) hosted the Indianapolis Colts (11-5) over Wild Card weekend, winning 27-24. Approximately 10 fans allowed at the game did not see the entire contest, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz earlier this week.

Per Poloncarz via the Buffalo News, there were 10 fans tossed from the game and he added “I believe almost every one of them was related to someone who wasn’t wearing a mask.”

In total, 6,700 people were let through the gates against the Colts and the same will be allowed at Bills Stadium against the Ravens. The same safety protocols will be in place.

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Playoff milestones Josh Allen, Bills reached vs. Colts

Postseason milestones QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills reached vs. Indianapolis Colts in Wild Card round.

As the Bills now look to the AFC Divisional round vs. Ravens (11-5), their win against the Colts came with some milestones that deserve some recognition first. The 27-24 win itself was Buffalo’s first playoff victory in 25 years, but there was more where that came from.

Here’s a rundown of a couple of those postseason milestones a couple of Bills (13-3) players reached vs. the Colts last week:

  • K Tyler Bass connected on his first-career playoff kick from 46 yards and then set an NFL record. His next, from 54 was the longest-ever kick for a rookie in the postseason.
  • In throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for another, QB Josh Allen became the first player in Bills history to do so.
  • The Bills had a 96-yard scoring drive on offense which finished with a rushing score from Allen. That was the longest scoring drive in team history.
  • Allen had 300-plus passing yards, a 70-plus completion percentage and rushed for 50-plus yards. He’s the only player in NFL history to do so in a single-game.
  • In his career, Allen has rushed, thrown, and caught a touchdown dating back to 2019’s postseason. He’s only one of five players in NFL history to do so.
  • Sean McDermott joined Marv Levy (11), Lou Saban (2) and Chuck Knox (1) as the only coaches in Bills history to win a playoff game.
  • WR Gabriel Davis had four catches for 85 yards. That’s the best rookie receiving game in the postseason ever by Bill.
  • Allen completed 12-straight passes during the game, surpassing Jim Kelly’s previous record of nine.

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Dion Dawkins, Jordan Poyer among 3 Bills mic’d up vs. Colts

Buffalo Bills OL Dion Dawkins, DE Darryl Johnson, S Jordan Poyer mic’d up against the Indianapolis Colts in Wild Card.

The Buffalo Bills decided to get a little carried away with putting microphones on players during their Wild Card contest against the Indianapolis Colts.

Bit of a risk considering the team could have lost, but hey, the Bills won 27-24 and now we have triple the content to digest.

Offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, safety Jordan Poyer and defensive end Darryl Johnson were all mic’d up against the Colts. That provides a good look at a player mic’d up on offense, defense and special teams which is a neat twist in it’s own.

So let’s dive in now, here’s the video the Bills released earlier this week of all three mic’d up against the Indy last weekend:

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In weird twist, Bills could face one player twice in postseason

Jared Veldheer could face the Buffalo Bills twice this postseason.

When the Bills beat the Colts 27-24, Jared Veldheer was sent packing with the losing team.

But in a weird twist of fate… he could be on Buffalo’s radar in the future again…

The 33-year-old offensive tackle was signed by, and practiced with, the Packers already this week.

Huh?

So here’s what happened.

The Colts only recently signed Veldheer to their practice squad in late December. He was talked out of retirement. Due to injury, he was called up from the Colts’ practice squad and started against the Bills. Practice squad callups were made available to teams in the league this season to help deal with COVID-19.

But because he was a callup and technically still on their practice squad, he was able to be signed by another team after losing and the Packers came calling, again, due to injury.

The Packers lost left tackle David Bakhtiari to a torn ACL in practice leading up to Week 17. Currently the Packers have Billy Turner and Rick Wagner playing their tackle spots, but according to Packers Wire, Veldheer will add top-level depth. Wagner’s also dealt with a knee injury recently.

So all things considered, the Bills could actually face Veldheer on the field twice in the same playoffs… if the Bills and Packers meet in the Super Bowl.

Veldheer already will likely set history by playing for two different teams in one postseason, but then would also be the first player to face the same team twice in the NFL postseason if that Super Bowl were to happen. Interestingly enough, Veldheer was talked out of retirement last season as well and ended up playing in the 2019 postseason with the Packers.

Veldheer is also able to play with the Packers because he had passed the Colts’ COVID-19 protocol last weekend prior to facing the Bills.

Of course, we’re still a far cry from the Bills becoming involved in this story, but hey, you never know.

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Former Bills Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips were rooting for Buffalo vs. Colts

Former Buffalo Bills players Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips on Wild Card win vs. Indianapolis Colts.

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The NFL is a business. That’s why former Bills defensive linemen Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips departed for the Dolphins and Cardinals, respectively, last offseason.

At the time of leaving, both guys indicated they’d like to be back at the team’s 2019 locker cleanout day. The good feelings toward the Bills appeared to still be alive and well this past weekend.

Cracking the postseason for the third time in four seasons under current head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills finally got their first win there. Buffalo topped the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24.

Shortly after the game, both Lawson and Phillips took to their social media accounts via Twitter expressed they were happy for the Bills.

Lawson, a former first-round pick of the Bills, told his former team to “go win it all” in his message:

Phillips sent a personal congrats to the fan base:

While perhaps just a small thing to note, this does display the positive reviews the Bills currently have around the NFL.

People talk, and no one more so than former employees. Lawson and Phillips are two of the most-prominent former players to recently play for the Bills under McDermott’s watch and that’s a great sign that they have no grudges or ill-feelings toward Buffalo after their departures.

We’re not that long removed from Buffalo being a place that free agents and other players would never consider playing for and wished to not be drafted by. That seems like ages ago now.

And hey, you never know, maybe they’ll be back one day?

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More ‘tough as nails’ praise came for Bills WR Cole Beasley

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott, QB Josh Allen on WR Cole Beasley during Indianapolis Colts Wild Card win.

Cole Beasley gave an 11 word answer when asked to update his health following the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.

Beasley, who caught all seven of his targets in the 27-24 win for 57 yards, simply said he’ll be “all right.”

Mild-mannered when typically behind the microphone (in a press conference setting, at least) like he was on Saturday, everyone else had a lot more to say about his efforts. Beasley, playing through a knee injury, let his toughness do the talking.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen said Beasley was “tough as nails” for suiting up.

“To come out and play the way he did was awesome for us,” Allen said.

A day later on Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott agreed with Allen’s take so much… he repeated them.

“He’s a stud, just like Josh said, he’s tough as nails,” McDermott said via video conference.

“I can go on and on about how I feel about Cole Beasley. He’s a tough, smart competitor for us,” added offensive coordinator Brian Daboll on Monday as well.

But McDermott did add a bit of a further positive note. Beasley will play once again in Buffalo’s upcoming divisional round meeting on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. No setbacks for the slot receiver.

” He loves to compete and he did a great job along with our training staff in getting ready last week,” McDermott said. “He’ll be ready to go.”

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