Doug Marrone addressed the media after the team completed its rookie minicamp on Monday, with the Bills getting ready to perform organized team activities next week.
“We finished up today and I think it was a good weekend,” Marrone said in his opening statement. “We’ve accomplished what we set out to do, making sure that they learn and train the players to get them ready for when the veteran players come back. Obviously this is the end of the rookie minicamp and I think next on the agenda for us obviously we’re still under phase two this week, so the players will be back in working out the next couple of days.”
The team’s biggest addition of the offseason, rookie receiver Sammy Watkins, was running routes at 6:45am, according to Marrone, something the second-year coach called “encouraging”. Marrone thinks Watkins has “better” hand-eye coordination than he had thought before seeing him on the field.
Watkins thinks that at this point, he needs to work on his routes “more than anything”.
“I have the speed and size and the ability, now it’s just down to the details and the little things,” said Watkins. “Initially the cornerbacks are great, they know the details of your route and you have to be crisp and right on everything you do and have to make everything look the same. I woke up this morning and that’s what I was trying to do. Stay straight, keep my head up and work on my routes and my breaking points.”
“I know this game is totally different from college. It’s still the same sport, but now guys are ten times smarter. Now this is a job so you’re going to do anything in your power to get better at your steps or your speed. Just getting the right rest and eating right, so now it’s the time to work on the little things like break points and your eyes and working on the fluidity of your routes.”
Marrone was impressed with the receivers, along with other position groups among the rookies attending the camp.
“Again, I think for me the big thing, and I’ve always been this way and said this before when you guys have been around, I really look forward to when the pads come on and we start playing football and really evaluating people then,” said Marrone. “As far as the condition of the group, I thought those receivers did a good job. The quarterback did a good job; he had to throw a bunch. I was impressed with the DB’s overall. I thought their foot speed was good in and out. The offensive line is big and athletic; we’ll see how tough they are when the pads come on. I thought the D-line again is an athletic group. The guys that we had in camp, I was happy with.”
One of the rookie offensive linemen, tackle Seantrel Henderson out of Miami, a seventh-round selection who never quitebecame a dominant presence for the Hurricanes after being a top high school recruit. Marrone said that the young lineman was “off to a good start,” but that it’s “early,” and “consistency is going to be the key.”
“There is no doubt that he can play,” said Marrone. “There is no doubt about that. The problems that have come in to is can he be consistent enough and be disciplined enough and have the structure to be a pro. That’s what being a pro is really. We talk about what it’s like to be a Bill, but it’s really about being a pro. You have to have that discipline and structure. Like I tell the players all the time you can get yourself in trouble in this profession when you start treating your job like a hobby. From my experience I’ve been around some players that when they do that, they’re not going to last very long.”
A member of the defensive backfield that “impressed” Marrone with his “foot speed” was undrafted free-agent signee Kenny Ladler, a 6’1”, 205 pound safety from Vanderbilt.
“I didn’t know why he didn’t get drafted from other teams that maybe it was a need or so,” said Marrone. “I was impressed with his foot speed. I think he’s someone that obviously we’re going to keep an eye on all of them, but one that had a good showing in these last couple of days.”
Along with new players for Buffalo are new coaches, with Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz, quarterbacks coach Todd Downing, senior offensive assistant Jim Hostler, defensive line coach Pepper Johnson, wide receivers coach Rob Moore and linebackers coach Fred Pagac joining Marrone on the Bills’ sideline. Marrone feels the dynamic with the new coaches has been “great”.
“Even though it might be our first time together, there is still a lot of information and a lot of crossover and a lot of people that have worked together,” said Marrone. “I’m excited. I think what you’ll see form us is that this atmosphere is quite different than any other atmosphere. What we were trying to get accomplished, I think you’ll see an increase in the OTA’s of how we are on the field. I think you’ll see obviously increasing when we get to training camp.”
