Perfect Attendance for Bills Mandatory Minicamp
Jordan Poyer and all his Buffalo Bills teammates have reported to mandatory minicamp as expected on Tuesday, according to coach Sean McDermott, who has been encouraged by everything he's seen from the team this offseason.
That includes the players like Poyer, who didn't participate in the voluntary portion of the program as part of a business decision during negotiations for a contract extension. The 31-year-old safety's current deal expires after the 2022 season.
McDermott said it was "important" for Poyer to be at minicamp.
"He's one of the leaders on our team," McDermott said. "It's good to see his face in here on a personal level. And then just to get him around the team, I'm sure those guys are happy to see him as well, so it looks like he's been working, and we're looking forward to spending some time with him the next couple days."
More important, according to McDermott?
"I think you've got to be able to control that line of scrimmage," he said, referring to the many offseason moves to bolster the offensive line, including the addition of guard/center Greg Van Roten the day before. "You've got to know what you've got coming out of training camp, and we've got to, A, establish the line of scrimmage and, B, protect our quarterback."
Helping make that happen will be a revamped coaching staff that includes two new coordinators (Ken Dorsey on offense and Matthew Smiley on special teams), a new offensive line coach (Aaron Kromer) a new quarterbacks coach (Joe Brady) and a new senior offensive assistant (Mike Shula).
In addition, Bobby Babich has moved from safeties to linebackers and Jim Salgado from nickel to safeties.
The transition has been more than satisfactory.
McDermott was particularly complimentary of Dorsey, a former NFL quarterback who was promoted from quarterbacks coach after Brian Daboll left to become head coach of the New York Giants.
"First, I'd say he's played at a high level," McDermott said, "and if you've been around Dorsey a little bit, you've seen the fire that he has that he brings, the competitive nature that he has. It's important when you coach that you can see it through the eyes of the helmet, right? You've got to be able to put yourself in the players' position in order to get them in position to make plays and be successful. Ken's worn that helmet, so he's been those eyes. And then when you're coaching through the offensive lens, it's it's usually coaching through the eyes of the quarterback, and he's played that position. So he is, to me, very qualified to do that at a high level."
McDermott also said he looks forward to almost every aspect of heading back to St. John Fisher College for training camp for the first time since 2019.
The only exception? The beds in the dorms.
"I don't think anybody really loves sleeping in college dorms," the coach said. At 48 years old, I can tell you I don't. But I'm willing to do it. ... But that's what we do, right? And that's how a team comes together through those shared experiences."
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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.
