Inside The Bills

LB Barnett to make debut vs Bills

Washington LB and former Bills LB Nick Barnett will make his preseason debut Saturday against Buffalo.

That according to ESPN Redskins blogger John Keim.

Barnett, who signed with Washington after camp opened, ironically is London Fletcher’s backup at ILB in Washington’s 3-4 front.

Barnett was released by the Bills not long after the 2012 season concluded, but Barnett holds no ill will toward Buffalo.

“I have no animosity to the players or anybody,” Barnett told Keim. “But it will be fun to play against them.”

Barnett failed physical

Nick Barnett was one of the veteran defenders released by the Bills Monday. Once the NFL league transaction page listed the move we found out why.

Barnett was listed on the league’s transactions as waived – failed physical.

NFL clubs can differ in their opinions on physical exams. One club might pass a player on a physical, while another might fail. Some teams have stricter standards than others, or it could simply be a difference of opinion from one team physician to another. In this case Barnett’s physical state was obviously not up to Buffalo’s standard.

What Barnett, Wilson subtractions mean

The Bills released a pair of veteran defenders Monday in Nick Barnett and George Wilson. What’s the ripple effect on Buffalo’s roster?

First and foremost Buffalo is losing their two leading tacklers from the 2012 season. The Bills already have a potential replacement for Wilson in Da’Norris Searcy, who began earning playing time last fall. I suspect there could also be a free agent addition at the position too. One that is well versed in Mike Pettine’s system.

As for the linebacker position there’s a lot of youth at the position now with Barnett’s departure. Sheppard got a ton of playing time last season and so did Nigel Bradham, but with a new defensive system coming Bradham will be back to square one. At least Sheppard saw time in the 3-4 in 2011.

Then there’s a host of young linebackers after that in Arthur Moats, Chris White, Greg Lloyd and Brian Smith.

Barnett says he’s being released

Bills LB Nick Barnett announced on his twitter account that he’ll be released by the club today.

I was told I’ll be released today by the Buffalo Bills. Thanks to all the great Fans and friends I have met in Western New York.. It was

— NickBarnett (@NickBarnett) February 11, 2013

Truly a pleasure being apart of that organization and culture.. Very unfortunate we didn’t get the Bills to the playoffs but I know you

— NickBarnett (@NickBarnett) February 11, 2013

You guys will have many successful years ahead of you. Thanks #billsmafia for all your support.. Sad to leave but like they say when one

— NickBarnett (@NickBarnett) February 11, 2013

One door closes more open up.. All in Gods hands..

— NickBarnett (@NickBarnett) February 11, 2013

Barnett practicing

Nick Barnett is back on the practice field here on Friday.

Barnett did not practice Wednesday or Thursday due to a sore knee, but is still expected to play Sunday.

Eric Wood is the only non-participant today.

Barnett likely to play Sunday

Although Nick Barnett (knee) missed his second straight day of practice Thursday it doesn’t have head coach Chan Gailey concerned about the veteran linebacker’s availability on Sunday.

“Most everybody was back to practice today except for Nick,” said Gailey. “We held him out today. It’s just not coming back as fast. I don’t think anybody has any reservations about him playing on Sunday, it’s just not come back as fast.”

When asked about Barnett’s prospects for getting back on the practice field Friday were concerned, Gailey is expecting Barnett to participate.

“I’m anticipating him doing something tomorrow,” Gailey said. “I don’t know how much, but I’m anticipating him doing something.”

All the other defensive players that sat out Wednesday’s practice (Jairus Byrd, Leodis McKelvin, Spencer Johnson, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus) were back practicing Thursday.

“We had a bunch of guys that got banged up in the game,” said Gailey. “We were giving them a day to get back is what we were doing. Jairus got kicked in the shin and just little things like that.”

Barnett, Wood not practicing

Eric Wood had already been declared out for Sunday’s game with a torn MCL, but Nick Barnett is missing his second straight day of practice.

Barnett is dealing with a knee injury.

On the positive side Mark Anderson is practicing for a second straight day.

Several defenders missing

The defense is missing a few players in practice today.

While Mark Anderson is back practicing there are several sidelined or absent.

Here’s the rundown.

Marcell Dareus
Spencer Johnson
Kyle Williams
Jairus Byrd
Nick Barnett
Leodis McKelvin

The only offensive player not participating is Eric Wood.

Players see killer instinct as issue

Closing out tight games has proven difficult for the Bills. They did kneel out their five-point win over Miami and they killed the clock in their Week 3 win at Cleveland, but they’ve found it tough to hang on to leads in some other close games and it has the players wondering about their killer instinct.

“Yeah, we have to develop a killer instinct,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick. “We have to win those games if we want to be one of the teams that is sitting there at the end of the year getting ready for the playoffs. We have to be able to win games like this. As an offense we have to be able to put them away and we did not do it (Sunday).”

“Obviously we did not finish it off,” said Nick Barnett. “So the killer instinct was not there enough for us to win. I have high confidence in our defense in being able to get off the field in that opportunity, and it did not happen that time, whatever the reason was. But as far as killer instinct – yes, we should be able to close out these games, in all phases. Unfortunately it did not come out that way, but we will keep working.”

Barnett, Graham, McKelvin limited

Several Bills players were limited in practice Wednesday, including a couple of new additions to the injury report.

Nick Barnett (knee), T.J. Graham (ankle) and Leodis McKelvin (back) were among the limited participants. Here’s the full injury report from Wednesday. Also Chris Hairston’s injury was listed as an ankle. Head coach Chan Gailey described it as a deep bone bruise.

Did not practice
DE Mark Anderson – knee
WR Stevie Johnson – hamstring
DT Kyle Williams – ankle
C Eric Wood – knee
OT Chris Hairston – ankle

Limited in practice
WR Brad Smith – hamstring
CB Justin Rogers – foot
CB Leodis McKelvin – back
WR T.J. Graham – ankle
LB Nick Barnett – knee
G Kraig Urbik – knee
CB Aaron Williams – knee
DT Spencer Johnson – ankle

Full practice
S Da’Norris Searcy – hand
RB C.J. Spiller – shoulder
DE Mario Williams – wrist
TE Scott Chandler – groin
FS Jairus Byrd – back
G Andy Levitre – knee
DT Marcell Dareus – shoulder
WR Donald Jones – calf

Players prepared to fight to the end

They know the chances are very slim, but the men in Buffalo’s locker room aren’t giving up the fight.

“This is definitely not what we wanted, so its gonna be hard to get to where we wanna get, so we gotta keep fighting,” said Fred Jackson. “It was good to be back out there but I didn’t do much.  It felt like it was hard to be out there and not do much for your team.  Hopefully we can get things turned around.”

“I’m disappointed in losing the game. Definitely not discouraged,” said Nick Barnett. “I don’t ever go that route. I think we’re still in this thing and still fighting. All we can do is take it step by step. Last year’s champion was 7-and-7 at some point. And we’ve just got to fight to get there.”

Postseason still a target for players

The postseason is the target for every NFL team. Some teams at this point are obviously in better position than others, but Buffalo’s players are just keeping their head down and moving on to the next game after locking up a win over Miami Thursday night.

“There’s definitely still time,” said Nick Barnett. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and start looking too far ahead.  We got to take it one game at a time and mathematically, we’re still in this thing to do what we plan to do. We just got to take it one game at a time.”

“It’s just one game at a time,” said Kyle Williams. “I told you guys Monday, it just takes a spark to start a fire. I think we felt like this is the direction we should be headed, and we should be going in. We’re just going to take it one game at a time, we’re going to focus on Indy , but we’re going to have a long weekend and get some rest, just take a run at this thing.”

Byrd INT one of better plays of 2012

Fortunately it was on national TV in prime time. Jairus Byrd’s acrobatic interception Thursday night with under two minutes remaining to foil a potential big play for the Dolphins late could prove to be one of the plays of the season.

“That was crazy; that’s baller. He laid out for that thing,” said Mario Williams of Byrd’s full extension to make the pick. “To bring it in with his fingertips and go through the whole catch after hitting the ground and everything, that was a heck of a play.”

“That was big-time,” said Nick Barnett. “Byrd has been making plays like that all year. I thought he made some great plays like that in Arizona. He is that type of player.”

3 Bills LBs among most efficient tacklers

The film reviewers and stat crunchers at Pro Football Focus have put together their top 20 most efficient tacklers at linebacker in the NFL. Three Bills linebackers made the list.

Bryan Scott and Kelvin Sheppard were in a tie for 18th, with Nick Barnett right behind at 20th. Here’s the full list.

Tackling efficiency is determined by – (Tackles + assists + missed tackles) / Missed tackles.

Kyle, Barnett split sack from Cards game

Nick Barnett was initially credited with a pair of sacks in last Sunday’s overtime win over Arizona. The league has since amended his sack stats.

The sack which Barnett was credited for when Kevin Kolb ran out of bounds for no gain is now being split by Barnett and Kyle Williams. So Barnett now has a sack and a half for the Cards game and Williams a half sack.

Also Alex Carrington was officially given credit for a blocked field goal.

Barnett: “I don’t lose hope”

Nick Barnett sat at his locker in stunned silence Sunday afternoon. It was hard for him to believe that the Bills gave up 311 yards rushing to the 49ers on just 38 carries (8.2 avg.). Looking around at all the defensive talent in his locker room, it just simply does not compute in his mind.

“It’s very stunning to me,” Barnett said. “I would never imagine this situation with this defense. I believe in all these guys and I believe in their heart and I believe in their potential and the way that we can play. For whatever reason it is we’re not playing the way we’re supposed to.”

Barnett could only shake his head, but he tried to keep a stiff upper lip knowing 11 more games lie in front of the Bills.

“I don’t lose hope,” said Barnett. “I’m going to keep striking and keep pushing forward because I know we have the potential. Potential is such a dangerous word, but I know it’s there and I know the character we have in this room. We’ve just got to show it.”

Bills defenders assess their run ‘D’

Buffalo’s run defense was solid each of the first three weeks, but Sunday New England took advantage of the Bills nickel personnel and rumbled for almost 250 yards. Bryan Scott called their effort against the run “an epic failure.”

“One of our goals was to stop the run, and obviously it was an epic failure when it came to that,” said Scott. “They did not show us anything we did not prepare for.  That’s why it hurts.  Yes, we lost the game, but there were many aspects of the game where we beat ourselves.”

Nick Barnett was most troubled by the inability to get the momentum back once the Patriots started piling up scoring drives.  

“We can’t allow them to get rolling like this,” said Barnett. “We let em get rolling downhill, and the next thing you know, they made a lot of good plays, but we gave up a lot of good plays.  We played Santa Claus with a lot of different things, and we cant give a good team like this plays.  So that’s it.  Gotta go watch film, and get better.”

Byrd and Barnett both expected to play

Nick Barnett and Jairus Byrd both missed practice time this week, but both are expected to play.

That according to Chan Gailey.

“Nick and Jairus both practiced and we’re going to list Jairus as questionable and Nick as probable, but I expect both of them to play.”

Barnett, Byrd update

Nick Barnett is back practicing here on Friday as expected.

Both Chan Gailey and Barnett described the linebacker’s knee problem as minor.

Jairus Byrd is practicing for a second straight day after missing Wednesday’s practice.

Ruvell Martin and Fred Jackson are not practicing.

Barnett, Byrd update

Nick Barnett is back practicing here on Friday as expected.

Both Chan Gailey and Barnett described the linebacker’s knee problem as minor.

Jairus Byrd is practicing for a second straight day after missing Wednesday’s practice.

Ruvell Martin and Fred Jackson are not practicing.