ORCHARD PARK — It’s unlikely anyone on the planet was happier about Sunday’s outcome than Sean McDermott.
No, seriously.
The 38-0 loss to the Chicago Bears gave McDermott a reason to be salty heading into the final week of the preseason. With three practices and a game before final cuts Tuesday, those who make the roster are headed for a mini vacation before Week 1 preparations begin.
That means McDermott can conduct no-nonsense practices and preach urgency with it being hollow. He’s done both through the first two practices of the week, sending his offense for laps on multiple occasions for pre-snap mistakes.
But the reality is that the Bills only played one would-be starter (safety Cole Bishop) against the Bears. There was no Bears-centric planning for the game and the final score is meaningless toward the standings.
“We don’t want to see the Bears in the preseason,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “They kicked our butt last year, too. Take it with a grain of salt.”
Still, until the Bills show otherwise, depth through the middle of the defense is going to be a concern. The starters aren’t a mystery, but four of the six — linebackers Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano and safeties Bishop and Taylor Rapp — have lengthy injury histories, while defensive tackle DaQuan Jones is 33 and coming off a subpar season.
Milano’s injury history is known, while Bernard has been hit with nagging injuries in two seasons as the starting middle linebacker, including a hamstring injury that sidelined him for a week during training camp. If either sustains a long-term injury, it’s fair to be wary about who might step into the lineup.
Joe Andreessen and Dorian Williams are solid against the run, but were exploited by the Bears in pass coverage. McDermott acknowledged it wasn’t Andreessen’s best game, and despite leading the team in tackles last year, Williams was frequently taken off the field for a sixth defensive back on passing downs.
Thompson seems to be the third linebacker on the depth chart and a player who can slide into either position. But the 31-year-old was already facing a comeback after playing in just six games over the last two seasons due to major leg injuries when he sustained a hamstring injury that kept him out for two weeks.
And the Bills like to rotate defensive linemen, but with veteran Larry Ogunjobi set to miss the first six games, second-year defensive tackle DeWayne Carter and rookies T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker are going to be thrust into action right away.
Walker has shown flashes in his first two preseason games, but needs consistency. And after an impressive preseason debut, Sanders struggled to hold his ground at times against the Bears.
“We’re really trying to identify, fundamentally, are we where we need to be?” McDermott said. “Who can win one-on-one matchups? Who’s ready to play two weeks from now? … Where we’re at as a football team is getting more and more comfortable with our systems, with the fundamentals we need to execute and get on the same page in those other areas.”
The main preseason concern has been Bishop’s status. The second-year safety missed two weeks with a quad injury and had an uninspiring debut against the Bears as he tries to acclimate himself as a starter.
McDermott has been blunt about Bishop needing more practice reps because of his inexperience and said the coaching staff is still looking for a starter to play alongside Rapp. But the Bills still haven’t wavered on the 2024 second-round pick, particularly since he only played 12 snaps against Chicago.
Bishop has undoubtedly been pegged as a starter since minicamps began. It didn’t change once camp started and when he returned to practice a week ago, Bishop was immediately re-inserted into the starting lineup.
Damar Hamlin is lurking in the background, but there’s a reason he signed a one-year, $2 million contract to return and lost his role to Bishop after 14 starts last season. Hamlin struggled at times in coverage and open-field tackling, leading the Bills to Bishop.
Hamlin is a solid bridge for a few games, but not a long-term solution. Darrick Forrest and Cam Lewis are a notch below Hamlin, but fall into the same category. And before a shoulder injury halted a solid first camp, fifth-round pick Jordan Hancock hasn’t shown enough yet to say he can play starter’s snaps over long stretches.
“Everybody in our defense knows the expectation that we need to make plays when plays present themselves,” defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said. “You’re not going to bat 1.000, but we want to bat as close to 1.000 as we possibly can. … We’re seeing progress — maybe it’s delayed progress — but we’re seeing progress from a couple months ago, whether that be from injury, availability. And you know what? We’ll be good.”
The easy comparison for Bishop is Bernard. After playing sparingly as a rookie, Bernard moved to middle linebacker to replace the departed Tremaine Edmunds.
The Bills were steadfast leading into 2023 that they were comfortable in having Edmunds’ replacement on the roster after not addressing the position in free agency or the draft. And then Bernard missed most of training camp that year with a hamstring injury, but was named the starter anyway.
They took the same tone with wide receivers last year and are recycling it again with Bishop’s progress.
“Let’s be honest, he’s still a young player,” Babich said. “And I like the progress that I’ve seen from Cole. You go back to OTAs, you go back to training camp when he was available, there was some progress there and we’ll fall right back into where we need to be. … The thing we’re looking for with all these guys is growth every day.”