Archives for October 5, 2021

‘Playing behind Hyde and Poyer – who had a streak of making 60 consecutive starts before missing Sunday’s win because of an ankle injury – has meant Jaquan Johnson hasn’t had too many chances defensively, but the third-year veteran made the most of his opportunity against the Texans.’

‘Spencer Brown was busy in his first NFL start. The Buffalo Bills’ rookie offensive tackle played all 72 offensive snaps Sunday during his team’s 40-0 victory over the Houston Texans at Highmark Stadium. Brown made a good first impression on quarterback Josh Allen.’

‘Eight defensive linemen have seen at least 35% of the snaps through four games, the most in the past five seasons. Those eight all are getting between 56% and 36% of the snaps. The ninth defensive lineman, Harrison Phillips, has seen a decent amount of action, too, at 17%.’

‘“We’d love to have him, for sure. He’s one of our best players, but if not, A.J. Klein and some other linebackers will step in and do a good job for us,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said when asked about Milano specifically. “We’ll see how it goes as the week goes on, but we have tremendous confidence in our other linebackers that will get an opportunity if Matt’s not able to go.”’

‘Offensive line (4.5): The competition was not elite. Brown spent much of the day blocking Jacob Martin, a journeyman defensive end. He saw some of Charles Omenihu, a promising third-year player who can bull rush but is not much of a speed rusher. Nevertheless, Brown stayed in good balance most of the game. Omenihu pushed him back on a bull rush once, but Josh Allen stepped up and completed a 21-yard pass on the play.’

‘So let’s take Beasley at his word and concede some fans maybe are booing him. Should that come as a huge surprise? He’s in a stadium packed with 68,087 fans – all of whom have at least started their vaccination process. Or, they are at least supposed to have. It’s a good bet there are some fans who made it in who haven’t been vaccinated. Nevertheless, if 60-something thousand people have decided getting vaccinated is the right choice from them, it stands to reason that at least some of them may take issue with Beasley’s frequent posts questioning the vaccine.’

‘The county has the ability to check people’s vaccination status, with an individual’s permission, against the state vaccination database. That was done for 91 people who received additional vetting.’