Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano is excited to get back on the field with his team and he’ll do so potentially on Sunday when Buffalo (5-2) hosts the New England Patriots (2-4).
But before doing so, Tim Hortons better stock up.
Feliciano is returning from a pretty brutal pectoral injury he suffered this offseason. It was an injury many speculated that would cause him to miss an extensive time when suffered in July, but the 28-year-old wanted to be back as soon as possible… or perhaps he just wanted a shot at his former team in the Raiders in Week 4. That game was the soonest he could come off Buffalo’s injured reserve list. Instead, he’s only coming back now.
The truth probably sits somewhere in between there, but on Thursday while chatting via video conference, Feliciano said that he was inching to get back out on the field for awhile. In doing so, Feliciano, reflecting back, admitted that he was a pain to the Bills’ training staff and probably his wife as well.
“I owe those guys some donuts and some food… because they dealt with a lot. They did a great job… the Raider game, it was a bad week to be around me and with the Monday night game against KC (Kansas City),” Feliciano said. “Those two weeks… they deserve their money.”
Now that the dust is settled and Feliciano has officially come off of IR… nobody knows his body better than him, and he’s feeling better than ever.
“Credit to the trainers and the coaching staff… they didn’t really rush me back. You know me, I was trying to get activated weeks before they did activate me and thankfully they didn’t listen to me. They kept me safe,” Feliciano said, “Two weeks ago, I wasn’t ready. I think the coaches and the training staff helped me realize that and then having a plan of how to get my strength back fast and conditioning up.”
Last season, Feliciano signed a two-year deal with the Bills as part of the team’s massive overhaul in the trenches on offense. He won the starting right guard spot and didn’t look back, playing in all 16 games with Buffalo in 2019.
Fast forward to present day and Feliciano went from unknown a year ago to a player that folks are dying to get back in the team’s lineup. A big reason some expect Feliciano to be a welcomed addition has to do with the running game. Buffalo is currently averaging 97 yards per game on the ground, the fourth-fewest in the NFL.
According to Pro Football Focus, Feliciano graded out at 63.1 overall in his first season with the Bills. That’s only their average category. But hey, that’s a lot better than what the team has gotten from replacements Cody Ford and Brian Winters, so it’s possible that Feliciano returning could actually be huge.
If that’s the case, the main beneficiary would be running back Devin Singletary. He’s taken the bulk of the load in the backfield for the Bills this season even when rookie Zack Moss is healthy, but things haven’t gone exactly perfectly.
Singletary is sounding happy to get Feliciano back this week, so if that means anything, it could be a sign of good things to come for the Bills.
“I have a lot of chemistry with Jon,” Singletary said. “He brings that attitude when he’s in the game and he’s in kill-mode all the time.”
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