Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘At least on the surface, the Bills – who made the right call and did not dress Araiza for Friday night’s preseason game in Carolina – are trying to make us believe they did not know of the alleged incident when they used a sixth-round draft pick on the punter nicknamed Punt God four months ago.’

‘O.J. Howard’s contract, and the dead cap the Bills would have to absorb (about $3.2 million), makes cutting him an ill-advised proposition. That’s why I think he will make the team, as well as locker room favorite Tommy Sweeney behind starter Dawson Knox, though I also think Beane could be working to find a trade partner which would at least save the Bills his $1.9 base salary.’

‘The game can be streamed on NFL.com, the NFL mobile app and the NFL’s new streaming service, NFL+.’

‘Araiza, who was picked in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft and was just given the Bills’ punting job earlier in the week after he won a competition with Matt Haack, was named in a civil lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court along with former teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko.’

‘“Candidly, we don’t have the final answer,” general manager Brandon Beane said Tuesday when he was asked what the Bills plan on doing with White’s roster spot early in the season. “We’re not sitting here going, ‘Oh, he’s going to be here on this date.’ We truly don’t know that. We’re trying to run out the clock here and make that move.”’

‘Buffalo, with it’s high-powered offense driven by Josh Allen, seemed like a perfect place for Howard to get back on track, but it really hasn’t happened. As the regular season opener against the Rams gets closer and closer, we’re still waiting for Howard to show something in practice and in the practice games.’

‘As is turned out, Ford was too slow to combat speed rushers off the edge so he moved inside to guard, and he played on both sides of the line but never distinguished himself and ultimately became a backup in 2020 and 2021.’

‘Araiza has a tremendous leg and he entered the NFL with about as much hype as any punter ever has. There were some draft analysts who thought the San Diego State product would actually go much higher than where Buffalo eventually took him. And in fact, he ended up being the third punter selected.’

‘The first-team offense stayed on the field for most of the second drive, while the first-team defense played two full series.’

‘“Josh will be hearing a new voice in his ear, and so I think there’s a lot that we want to put into practice in a game that we’ve been practicing,” McDermott said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into (Allen playing in a preseason game where other star QBs don’t). I won’t get into all of them, but that’s certainly one of them.”’

‘Counting special teams, only offensive lineman and sixth-round pick Luke Tenuta played more snaps (67) than Spector (64 total, 50 on defense) against the Colts, and Spector made very good use of his time. He was in on nine defensive tackles, batted down a pass, and had a sack wiped out by a penalty. He also made one tackle on special teams.’

‘Moss’ roster spot felt like it was somewhat tenuous heading into training camp. Devin Singletary is the No. 1 back, the team drafted James Cook in the second round to be a contributor in the passing game, Duke Johnson was signed in free agency, and Taiwan Jones, though he doesn’t factor into the offense, is likely a lock as a core special teamer.’

‘“Yeah, two years of injury and fighting back,” coach Sean McDermott said Saturday night after watching Hodgins catch nine passes for 77 yards in the victory over the Colts. “That resilient nature that he has; he’s a great human being, his teammates love him. Great to see him work himself back in a position to make those plays, and for him to make those plays and come through for us was outstanding.”’

‘Obviously, if Allen were to get hurt for an extended period of time – let’s hope and pray that doesn’t happen – the Bills would have problems because Keenum isn’t even in the same universe as the quarter-billion-dollar man.’

‘The Bills upgraded at edge rusher with the addition of Von Miller this year and the drafting of Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham last year. They also re-signed Shaq Lawson, and all of that should be a wakeup call to Epenesa that he needs to start producing.’