Bills WR Gabe Davis Talks 'Special' Feeling Ahead of Jets Matchup
The true breakout season many expected after receiver Gabriel Davis produced a breakout game during a 42-36 overtime playoff loss at Kansas City following the 2021 season didn't materialize last year.
This is not so say the Buffalo Bills receiver was a disappointment. But after catching eight passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns, including one that catapulted the Bills back into the lead with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, visions of 100-plus catches for 1,000-plus yards were dancing in everyone's heads.
What unfolded was merely a solid season for Davis in 2022 -- 48 receptions for career-highs of 836 yards, 17.4 yards per catch and seven touchdowns. Those numbers were for just 15 games because he missed one with an injury and the game against Cincinnati in which teammate Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest was canceled and wiped off the books.
So what is expected of him in 2023?
The numbers likely don't matter as much as the intangibles, especially for a team that has a high-volume veteran like Stefon Diggs who is still in his prime.
Davis has been named one of the Bills' captains, which should tell you everything you need to know what the coaching staff thinks of him and that they just be thinking much more production is just around the corner for the fourth-year player who is just 24.
Davis is taking his responsibility seriously.
"It's special," he said. "It makes me proud to say that I'm one of the captains of the Buffalo Bills and the situation that I'm in, seeing all of the guys that are all in the room with me, a lot of respected players and how I can be in the same room, [converse] about the same things, how my opinion matters and the way I think. And they trust me with that, so it's definitely a great feeling."
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Davis keeps building rapport with quarterback Josh Allen and keeps doing his part to spread what he believes is the most important message for this season.
"The biggest thing that we came up with was: `be present in the moment,' " he said. "I feel like a lot of us think a lot in the past and think about the future, but just be where your feet are at. Each and every step, just be where you're at in that moment.
"I feel like a lot of people get caught up in looking ahead or thinking about what they could have done from the past. So being where your feet are at is the biggest thing."
The Bills won't have to look ahead for much longer, as they're taking on the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Monday night.
