Four days away from facing the No.1 ranked total defense in the NFL, Buffalo’s receivers are getting acclimated to playing with Kyle Orton as their quarterback.
The passing game is a huge key for the Bills on Sunday, as Detroit is ranked second on defense through the air, allowing only 186.5 yards per game. According to rookie receiver Sammy Watkins, who only has six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown on 17 targets in the past two games after eight grabs for 117 yards and a score against Miami in week 2, today’s practice with Orton “went pretty good”.
“Kyle’s got a different approach to practice,” said Watkins. “He demands what he wants out us. We just have to go out there and get on the same page and practice hard.”
When asked about specific differences Orton presents compared to Manuel, Watkins explained that the nine-year signal caller is “more of a veteran guy” in terms of the way “he talks”, “handles business”, and “breaks down defenses”.
“He’s really quick. The ball comes out faster. That’s just some things that you have to adjust to.”
As a quarterback of the Chicago Bears for four seasons (2005-2008), Orton has experience against the Lions. However, Detroit has developed a much better defensive identity since then, drafting defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and Ezekiel Ansah, a big part of why head coach Doug Marrone says it will be “challenging” to attack the Lions defense.
“They’re number one in the league,” said Marrone. “Really on first down they’re doing an outstanding job. On third down they’re fourth, so they’re very good all around. A lot of the focus is from the guys up front, and they’re outstanding players, but in the back end they’re playing well too. I think it’s going to be a great challenge for us to go in there and play well.”
Marrone does feel that Orton’s experience “helps” in this situation.
“Having been there before and having done before helps,” said Marrone. “The challenge for all of our players when they’re in the role of back up is to make sure they prepare each week like they’re the starter.”
To prepare for Sunday, Orton said he has spoken a lot with Marrone and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett this week.
“(Nathaniel Hackett)’s trying to get a feel for me a little bit,” said Orton. “Obviously, as a quarterback, you’d love to have a great feel for your coordinator and kind of feel what he’s going to call next and just situational stuff. Really the last 48 hours, we’ve been working hard together.”
Buffalo’s new starting quarterback said he does not see a lot of weaknesses in Detroit’s defense “at this point”, but feels the Bills are “a good offense”.
“There will be matchups across the board and we’re going to have to win some of those matchups and when the plays are there to be made, we’ll make the plays,” said Orton.
The quarterback change was made because there were plays that were left on the field in the past two games. Sunday will be the first test case to see if anything changes for the better from that standpoint.
Other notes:
- The non-participants in practice were wide receiver Marcus Easley (knee), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (Knee), guard Chris Williams (back), and linebacker Nigel Bradham (knee). Marrone said that he does not have a “feel” on Kyle Williams’ injury status, and only said he’s been “walking around”, see he will see how it progresses, “same with Nigel (Bradham)”.
- In terms of Chris Williams, Marrone said that he is concerned with “backs” because of his experience with other players having it, including mentioning that during his time as the New York Jets offensive line coach (2002-2005), a player re-aggravated a back injury in a walkthrough and couldn’t play. “That’s an injury I always get concerned about,” said Marrone. Whoever plays Marrone says that “there’s no doubt” the interior lineman, especially the guards, “have to play better”. If there is no Williams, it will again be between rookie Cyril Richardson and Kraig Urbik to see who starts. Richardson improved during the course of his first career start on Sunday against the Texans, according to what Marrone said he saw on film.
