Inside The Bills

Moats likely OLB full time

With Shawne Merriman going on injured reserve Tuesday, it’s a good bet that Arthur Moats will be remaining at outside linebacker the rest of the season.

Losing Merriman for the season leaves the Bills dangerously thin at outside linebacker with Danny Batten, Chris Kelsay and Moats as the only true outside linebackers. Spencer Johnson has also played out there in certain packages. It’s unclear right now if the Bills will use the vacant roster spot to acquire another outside linebacker.

Faith in Moats and Batten

With Chris Kelsay out for Sunday’s game and Shawne Merriman doubtful, Buffalo is going to be relying on a pair of second-year linebackers in Danny Batten and Arthur Moats. Head coach Chan Gailey admits the pair will get much more time than they typically would, but there aren’t too many other options.

“They’ve been thrust in there a little earlier than maybe a lot of us hoped they would have to be in there,” said Gailey. ”We were hoping to bring them along slowly. I know they’ll compete and they’re intelligent and will play as hard as they can play. And the good thing about them is they’ll play with speed. They play as hard as you can play every snap they’re on the field. They embody what our football team is about I believe so I trust they can get the job done.”

Batten and Moats’ speed will be helpful with respect to pass rush. Hopefully it only helps to stretch outside run plays by the Giants wider allowing run support to arrive from the secondary and prevent Ahmad Bradshaw from gaining the corner.

Moats staying outside

Arthur Moats has been a linebacker in motion from the time he arrived at One Bills Drive last year as he’s transitioned from inside linebacker to outside linebacker and back and back again. For now though he will stay at outside backer.

Head coach Chan Gailey confirmed as much due primarily to the injured Chris Kelsay.

“We’ve got to put him out there right now,” said Gailey of Moats. ”We’ve got to leave him out there especially while Chris (Kelsay) is out. We’ve got to leave him out there.”

Gailey was encouraged by Moats’ performance Sunday against the Eagles, which included a quarterback hit leading to an errant throw and interception.

“He did a nice job,” said Gailey. ”He wasn’t perfect. He hadn’t practiced there a lot so I think as he gets more work there maybe he’ll continue to give us a little juice off the edge.”

With Kelsay not expected to return to the lineup this week Moats should again be part of the rotation of players that included Spencer Johnson and Danny Batten at Kelsay’s OLB position.

Moats back inside

For the second day in a row Bills LB Arthur Moats has moved back to inside linebacker.

Last week Arthur Moats was with the outside linebackers during individual position drills, for the first time since last season. He had the opportunity for some rushes last week from the outside position.

This week however, it’s back inside. Last week head coach Chan Gailey said finding him a permanent home would be nice, but that there is value in having Moats as a versatile option as well.

Moats to see work outside

He’s been an outside linebacker and an inside linebacker for Buffalo in less than two full NFL seasons, and he’s switched back and forth a handful of times. This week however, Arthur Moats will get the opportunity to rush the passer a bit.

“I’m going to get some rushes this game,” Moats told reporters following Friday’s practice. ”That’s what they said. So we’ll see how it goes on Sunday.”

Since training camp Moats had been lined up at inside linebacker, where the coaching staff felt his physical stature was best suited. He played defensive end at James Madison in college, but projected to LB in the NFL. At 6’0″ he’s a few inches short of the prototype size NFL clubs look for in an OLB in a 3-4 defense. But Moats did make an impact last season as a rush linebacker with 24 tackles on defense and 2.5 sacks in four starts.

Buffalo’s pass rush has not been all that productive thus far this season with just two sacks in three games. Part of that is due to the focus on run defense facing two high-powered rushing attacks in Kansas City and Oakland as well as a passer that doesn’t allow the pressure to get to him in Tom Brady last week. But it’s obvious the coaching staff is exploring their options to see if they can find a pass rush combination that works.

Moats feels pretty comfortable moving back outside after playing there last season and reviewing some of the coverages and concepts while he was out early in the year with a knee injury.

“As far as the rushing side of it, that’s pretty simple,” said Moats. ”It’s the blitzes and different coverages I have to learn. Overall just from being inside I feel comfortable with it. It’s not like it’s foreign. It’s something that’s going to come back quickly.”

Head coach Chan Gailey realizes Moats has bounced back and forth a lot in his short NFL career, but can’t be certain as to whether Moats will have a permanent home any time soon position-wise.

“You’d like to find a permanent home for everybody,” Gailey told Buffalobills.com. ”It’s easier on them and easier on us. But to have a guy that is versatile helps your football team. You get some injuries and all of a sudden you’ve got a guy that can give you an edge rush if you need it. He can play back behind the line if you need it. You take advantage of what the positives are if you have them.”

As for Moats he’s not worried about where he’s lined up as long as he’s getting the opportunity to play.

“I stopped even thinking about it,” said Moats laughing. ”I’m just looking at myself as a renaissance man. If they need me to play inside, I’ll play inside. If they need me to play outside, I’ll play outside. That’s the way I look at it.”

Moats update

Bills LB Arthur Moats is on the move again.

Moats is practicing with the outside linebackers here on Friday. The second-year LB had been working at ILB since training camp.

He went through a similar position change as a rookie starting inside before moving outside.

Stevie, Moats probable

Stevie Johnson and Arthur Moats both practiced fully on Friday.

Both are listed on Buffalo’s injury report as probable. Johnson got a rest day Thursday as he’s been dealing with a nagging groin problem.

Moats could be available Sunday as well as he returns from a knee injury that has kept him off the field the past two weeks.

Moats update

Bills ILB Arthur Moats was back practicing for the first time since sustaining a knee injury a few weeks back.

Coming off the practice field Moats was headed straight for the training room for treatment, but feel he fared well.

“It felt good, my conditioning was good,” Moats said. “It was better than I thought.”

Moats was not full go in practice as he was listed as limited Wednesday.

Moats back

Arthur Moats has returned to practice this week.

The inside LB had been out the past few weeks with a lower leg injury.

Terrence McGee is the only non-participant here on Wednesday.

Troup, Moats not participating

Two Bills defenders aren’t participating in practice today (Thurs).

Torell Troup and Arthur Moats are spectators at practice, though Moats did work on the stationary bike.

Moats out 2-3 weeks

Arthur Moats has missed the past week of practice with a calf injury, and according to head coach Chan Gailey he’s not close to returning.

When asked if Moats might return to action soon, Gailey said he would not.

“Not close,” said Gailey. ”We’ve got two or three more weeks on him.”

Moats was injured in the second preseason game at Denver.

Carrington, Moats sitting

The Bills have just a pair of players not participating at Monday’s practice.

Alex Carrington and Arthur Moats are both not practicing. We’ll get an update from Chan Gailey after practice.

Moats, Torbor sitting

A couple of Buffalo’s ILBs are spectators at practice.

Arthur Moats and Reggie Torbor are both not practicing. Moats suffered a bruised right leg Saturday against Denver.

Here’s the rundown of other non-participants.

Corey McIntyre
Scott Chandler
Craig Davis
Shawn Nelson
Chris Kelsay
Chris White
Naaman Roosevelt
Donald Jones
Terrence McGee
Johnny White
Kellen Heard

Bills injuries not serious

Bills head coach Chan Gailey got right to an update about the handful of injured Bills in Saturday night’s game, including Donald Jones who was knocked cold on an illegal hit along the sideline and Johnny White whose head was slammed into the turf on a tackle and had to be carted off strapped on a backboard.

“I know the injuries were of concern to everyone and the good news right now is there were no serious injuries,” said Gailey. ”Guys will miss a while, but they’re going to eventually be fine.”

Johnny White was taken to the hospital for examination, but cleared and flew home with the team Saturday night. So did Jones.

Arthur Moats suffered a bruise to his leg and Naaman Roosevelt and Felton Huggins sustained undisclosed leg injuries.

LB Jefferson to get long look

His opportunity has surfaced due to injury, but you can bet that undrafted rookie ILB Brad Jefferson is more concerned about the opportunity he’ll have tonight than why it came up in the first place.

With third-round pick Kelvin Sheppard and sixth-round pick Chris White both out for tonight’s preseason game against the Broncos, there is a hole at the ‘mike’ LB position with the second defensive unit. Sheppard played there briefly before a hamstring injury cost him most of camp. White was manning the position in the absence of Sheppard and was faring well until an ankle injury against the Bears cost him this past week of practice and will keep him out of tonight’s game.

So Jefferson, an undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech, will move up from the third unit to play alongside Arthur Moats at ILB with the second string defense. By the time the game is over Jefferson could log up to 40 plays, which gives him a huge chance to put his best on game tape.

Shep not with team

Bills LB Kelvin Sheppard, who returned from a left hamstring injury late this week to practice a couple of times, will not be playing tonight in Buffalo’s preseason opener at Chicago. He did not make the trip with the team.

The move is a precautionary one by the Bills coaching staff in conjunction with the medical staff. Fellow draft classmate, Chris White will line up at ILB with the second unit on defense alongside Arthur Moats.

Sheppard seemed to anticipate that not playing in the preseason opener was a possibility earlier this week.

“You know it is what it is,” Sheppard told Buffalobills.com. ”I hate missing anything. It’s been eating me up on the inside to miss practice. So if I don’t (play against Chicago) I’m not going to let it eat me up too much. I’m just going to make sure I’m ready to go to Denver the next week.”

The reason Moats is now an ILB

It’s been mentioned before, but this time Bills head coach Chan Gailey spelled out exactly why they moved Arthur Moats to inside linebacker for the 2011 season.

“The development we felt of (Danny) Batten and (Antonio) Coleman and we also got Shawne Merriman,” said Gailey. ”And you look at the prototypical outside backers and there are not a lot of six footers out there and we felt like his quickness and speed allowed him to be a better inside backer than outside backer.”

Moats is only 6’0″ tall and most OLBs in a 3-4 scheme are at least 6’3″. Having a taller frame with longer arms generally makes an OLB a better pass rusher in a 3-4 scheme, which is why scouts sometimes weigh height heavily for that position.

Moats making the calls

Bills LB Arthur Moats is manning an inside linebacker position in this camp, which is nothing new. He did the same thing last year as a rookie before going outside for most of the season. Now his move inside could be more permanent.

With Kelvin Sheppard out of the lineup (pulled muscle) fellow rookie Chris White has been manning the ‘mike’ linebacker position next to Moats in the second team defense on the inside. With White so new to the system, Moats is the one making the calls in the huddle.

“I’m in there with the young guy (White) when I’m with the twos I make most of the calls because I’m familiar with the system,” said Moats. ”Technically the ‘mike’ is supposed to be making the calls, but as long as we get the job done that’s all that matters.”

Both White and Sheppard are known as quick studies and should pick things up rather quickly, but the coaches have been brisk with installation and the rookies might find the pace and the volume of material a bit daunting.

Barnett ready to tutor rooks

Nick Barnett is entering his ninth year in the league and much like 10-year vet Andra Davis he’s open to showing the rookies the ropes, especially now that he’s officially signed. That’s huge knowing Buffalo has second-year man Arthur Moats learning the ILB position along with a pair of draft choices in Kelvin Sheppard and Chris White.

“Anything you can provide young guys growing up in this game is experience and giving them wisdom,” Barnett told Buffalobills.com. ”Youth is no excuse, that’s what we’d say over in Green Bay we were a young team there. I think it’s better sometimes to have that young team their eyes are wide open and they’re ready to play, ready to go, so I look forward to getting those guys out there and start hitting people.”

Sounds like the young players will be well schooled. It also sounds like there’s going to be some attitude on the defensive side of the ball this season.

Moats, Batten update

In the morning walk through, Arthur Moats, as Chan Gailey indicated was lining up at inside linebacker with the second unit. Alongside him was a rookie.

Sixth-round pick Chris White lined up next to Moats on the inside. They were flanked by Aaron Maybin and Antonio Coleman. Coleman rotated with Danny Batten who is back at his more natural outside linebacker spot. Late last season Batten was studying up to be an inside linebacker, but after Kelvin Sheppard and White were drafted Batten was moved back outside.