Tag: ike boettger

Bills’ Ike Boettger out for remainder of game vs. Patriots

#Bills’ Ike Boettger out for remainder of game vs. #Patriots:

The Buffalo Bills’ thin offensive line got even lighter in the second quarter against the New England Patriots in Week 16.

The Bills (8-6) have announced that guard Ike Boettger is done for the game. He suffered an Achilles injury.

Considering circumstances, Buffalo might not have Boettger back the rest of the season as well.

After disengaging a block with a member of the Patriots (9-6), Boettger went down with a non-contact injury. That’s never a good start.

Seeing as it’s an Achilles issue, those are seldom short-term injuries.

Without Boettger, the Bills plugged backup Ryan Bates into the lineup.

In addition to Boettger, Buffalo was already playing without Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford and Dion Dawkins.

Feliciano and Ford are on Buffalo’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. Dawkins was activated from it on Saturday, but he is not playing vs. New England.

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Bills vs. Steelers: 9 storylines to watch for this week

#Bills vs. #Steelers: 9 storylines to watch for this week:

It’s Wednesday so the Buffalo Bills are now turning their attention to their next opponent. This week, it so happens to be their first of 2021.

After a successful preseason run, the Bills will host the Pittsburgh Steelers to begin the year.

With that, here are nine storylines to follow as Week 1 approaches:

Sean McDermott remains non-committal on Bills offensive line

What #Bills head coach Sean McDermott had to say about his team’s O-line heading into the opener:

Who is going to be the starting five on the Buffalo Bills offensive line when the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town? Your guess is as good as anyone’s.

In that area of the field, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott remained mum on Tuesday. Last week, the coach said the position battle at guard continues heading into the regular season which begins on Sunday.

With the opener now only days away, it’s still ongoing. McDermott said via video conference that those two spots are down to Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford and Ike Boettger.

As far as naming two starters out of those three? McDermott won’t be doing so before Sunday, as he even suggested that a rotation is not off the table.

“We’ll see. There’s good competition there, as I said last week,” McDermott said. “I think we’ll know a little more as the week goes on… Comfortable rotating if we want to rotate but also comfortable with a little continuity if we go that route as well. Very confident in both Ike and Cody and in Jon.”

Of those three, Feliciano is the one most expect to be the starter. Ford and Boettger, specifically the first, is where some question marks remain.

Since trading up to select Ford at the 2019 NFL draft, he’s been in and out of the lineup due to injury. Additionally, Ford’s play has been inconsistent.

Still, the Bills have continued to insist he’s a pro-caliber lineman as Buffalo has consistently started him when healthy.

Because of that, Ford is the one most can envision as the likely starter vs. the Steelers, however, Boettger did have some good showing last year when filling in for an injured Ford.

Heading into 2021, Ford has always seemed like he knew nothing would be guaranteed this year. Earlier in training camp he discussed how his main focus this offseason was to improve his mental side of the game after his bouts with a few injuries.

“It was so much pressure of just being in the NFL and still figuring things out,” Ford said in late July. “This whole offseason I’ve dug deep. I went back home a few times.”

“I started talking to a mental coach,” Ford added. “That was the one thing that really helped a lot was to be able to talk to someone other than a coach or a teammate or even just a friend. It was me just getting my feelings out.”

Looking ahead to this week, expect McDermott to unveil his plan for the offensive line until the game begin on Sunday. McDermott is never one to tip his hand to an opponent in any manner.

But a betting man would certainly bet on the coach to pick five and not six.

In the past, both McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have expressed a fondness for continuity on the offensive line and the growth of chemistry between players as something that could help improve a unit. A rotation would be the opposite of that.

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Sean McDermott says two position battles to continue after training camp

Per Sean McDermott, these two position battles are ongoing at #Bills practice. Details:

Training camp and the preseason is a thing of the past, but according to Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, a few training camp position battles are not.

The Bills trimmed their roster to 53 players this week and have pieced together their first practice squad. Despite that, the coach said on Thursday that the No. 2 cornerback and the starting offensive line has yet to be written in pen just yet.

“They continue to battle,” McDermott said via video conference on the cornerback battle. “Currently you’ll see Levi (Wallace) out there and you’ll see Dane (Jackson) at times.”

The starting spot across from Tre’Davious White is pretty cut-and-dry. It’ll either be Wallace or Jackson. However, a split is also possible.

In 2020, Wallace and Josh Norman rotated there for the Bills. Once opening day comes around against the Pittsburgh Steelers, we’ll likely get our answer.

In terms of the offensive line, it’s not so simple. First and foremost, it’s a five player unit. But we do at least have a few players that we can comfortably consider starters.

Those would include both tackles, Dion Dawkins and Daryl Williams, and center Mitch Morse

The guard spots have been the ones up for grabs and McDermott added that competition there is not over.

“Continuity is important in all areas, but again, I think it speaks to the trust that we have and the depth that we have that there’s still competition in that position, along the front,” McDermott said. “The competition I think continues there as well and those guys know that.”

Vying for playing time at guard are Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford, Ike Boettger, and perhaps Ryan Bates could be an outsider looking in.

In reading between the lines, McDermott might have shown his hand a bit.

The coach, starting from left to right, went down each spot on the O-line discussing players. He started at left tackle and mentioned Dawkins missing time, and then at left guard, McDermott also referenced Feliciano spending time on the sideline due to injury during training camp.

McDermott then fell short of continuing, so was that him naming Feliciano the starter?

That’s just speculation, but many presumed that Feliciano was more locked into a starting spot anyway. He could slightly be on a hot seat, of sorts, but the starting job that has been speculated to be up for grabs the most is the other guard spot.

Like at cornerback, we likely won’t know that answer until quarterback Josh Allen breaks the huddle for first time vs. the Steelers on Sept. 12.

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Buffalo Bills activate Ike Boettger from Reserve/COVID-19 list

#Bills activate Ike Boettger from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Buffalo Bills got back one of their sidelined offensive linemen on Thursday. The team announced that guard Ike Boettger will be back in action on Thursday.

Boettger has yet to practice this offseason. He arrived to training camp last week and landed on the designation alongside tackle Dion Dawkins.

Boettger’s return had been expected. On Tuesday, Boettger was viewing training camp workouts from the sideline. In addition, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said earlier in the week that he expected both Boettger and Dawkins to return this week.

Dawkins is not back at practice, however, Beane specifically said that he expected Boettger to return first.

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Bills OL Dion Dawkins, Ike Boettger will return to practice this week

#Bills OL Dion Dawkins, Ike Boettger will return to practice this week:

The Bills began training camp without a few faces last week. Among those were two offensive linemen, Dion Dawkins and Ike Boettger.

At the start of camp, both players were placed on the Reserve/COVID list by the team after positive test results came about upon their arrival to training camp. Because of that, neither has practiced just yet.

That’s set to change. According to Bills general manager Brandon Beane via WGR-550 radio, both players are set to make their camp debuts at some point this week:

If Boettger is set to return sooner, that might indicate that Dawkins has some heavier symptoms during his bout with the virus. If true, Dawkins is still in good spirits. He thanked Bills Mafia for the support while he works to get healthy:

When addressing the status of Dawkins and Boettger, Beane was discussing the overall offensive line. The injury status of defensive end Jerry Hughes was not mentioned. Hughes showed up to training camp with a calf strain and has yet to practice as well.

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Bills place Dion Dawkins, Ike Boettger in COVID-19 protocol

#Bills place Dion Dawkins, Ike Boettger in COVID-19 protocol:

The Bills have placed two offensive lineman on the Reserve/COVID-19 list at the start of training camp.

According to Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane, the two players are Dion Dawkins and Ike Boettger.

Beane did not specify if the players have received COVID-19 vaccinations. However, he did say one had and the other had not.

Additionally, Beane said over the summer there were a couple of players that did test positive. Among those, two did receive a vaccination.

As a team, the GM said the Bills have just over 80 percent of their players vaccinated. The entire coaching staff has taken a COVID-19 vaccination as well.

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Updated status for every Buffalo Bills 2021 free agent

Updating status for every current Buffalo Bills free agent.

The Buffalo Bills and NFL are now turning their attention to the 2021 NFL Draft. The rookie event always becomes the forefront of everyone’s attention once the calendar turns to April.

Despite the draft being in the crosshairs, free agency continues to roll on. For the Bills, there’s still plenty of players from their 2020 squad that are still free agents, while others have signed contracts with other new teams.

Here’s an updated list of what’s going on with Buffalo’s current free agent class:

Buffalo Bills tender RFA Ike Boettger

OL Ike Boettger re-signed by Buffalo Bills to tender.

The Buffalo Bills have tendered restricted free agent offensive lineman Ike Boettger a contract on Wednesday. The team announced the move about 90 minutes before he was slated to become an unrestricted free agent when the market officially opens at 4 p.m.

Boettger, 26, started in seven games for the Bills at left guard in 2020, along with all three playoff games. Pro Football Focus graded him a 65.3 overall, good for their 36th best guard in the league last year.

Boettger signed with the Bills in 2018 as an undrafted rookie out of Iowa. He briefly was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs that same season when the Bills cut him, however, Buffalo got him back by the same means later thatyear.

According to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, the Bills tendered Boettger the first right of refusal offer. That cost is $2.133 million and if another team decided to sign Boettger to a contract, Buffalo has an opportunity to match that deal. If the Bills were to lose him, they would not receive and draft pick compensation with this tender, though.

Boettger could see a chance to earn a starting spot via a training camp battle in 2021. The likely candidate he’d battle against is Cody Ford, who ended his 2020 season on the team’s injured reserve list.

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Updated list of Bills free agents as tampering period opens

List of Buffalo Bills 2021 free agents as the legal tampering period opens.

The Bills have been movers and shakers prior to free agency even opening, keeping several of their key pieces on the roster.

The team re-signed linebacker Matt Milano, tackle Daryl Williams and guard Jon Feliciano over the course of the past few days.

But that trio is not alone. Buffalo still has several other free agents they could potentially re-sign, but those guys are about to hit the open market. As of noon on Monday, these players can now entertain offers from other teams,

With that legal tampering period in the NFL now open, here’s an updated list of pending free agents for the Bills: