Buffalo Bills Driven by Anger, Heartbreak in Training Camp
Just three days into training camp, Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver and rookie offensive tackle Spencer Brown mixed it up in the first brawl of the summer.
Around an hour later, fourth-year cornerback Levi Wallace noted how "there's a little more anger and urgency" in the team this year.
A day earlier, safety Jordan Poyer admitted the team has a sour taste in its mouth after falling to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game in January.
All of this is music and art to the eyes and ears of coach Sean McDermott, who's been pushing his players toward nastiness for five years running.
Obviously he doesn't want a team that's out of control, like, say, the Cincinnati Bengals often were under Marvin Lewis. Six times from 2005 through 2015, they finished with 10 or more wins but could never advance in the playoffs.
But if the Bills can straddle that line without falling completely over to the other side, they will have their best chance of finally delivering the city its first Super Bowl title, perhaps before it's too late if the team moves to Austin, Texas or some such after the lease expires on a stadium it no longer believes is feasible for the long term.
More on the team's possible move in the days and weeks to come. But for now, the job of this year's squad is to push that to the side, play with a controlled rage and defend the AFC East crown.
By all accounts, the Bills are in a pretty good place with that after less than one full week of camp.
"You can feel like guys want to go out there and guys want to compete at a high, high level," Poyer said. "Guys still have that bad taste in their mouths from the AFC Championship Game.
"Everything's got to be earned this year. Nothing is going to be given to us. Just because we were there last year doesn't mean we're going to get a free pass there this year."
Added cornerback Tre'Davious White: "It's a tough league, it's a year-to-year league, and I think that the approach that we're having going into it and the attitude that we's got coming into camp, I think that we're getting off to a great start and guys are coming in with a great attitude and guys are buying in.
"It's kind of funny, though, because when I first got here and got drafted, they expect the expectations were, `man, can we please just get to the playoffs.' So now it's just, you ... you see fans out there. It's like, `we got, we got to win a Super Bowl.' So it's so crazy how things have changed, but we wouldn't want it no other way. It just goes to show that we're doing things the right way."
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
