Bills notebook: Bobby Babich on collaboration with Sean McDermott; Ed Oliver placed on IR
Babich said he’s able to see McDermott juggle the duties of calling plays and being a head coach in part because of McDermott’s willingness to listen to position coaches and incorporate what those coaches have been seeing as the game progresses.
After Sunday’s 40-9 win over the Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott revealed he had been sharing play-calling duties for the defense with second-year defensive coordinator Bobby Babich.
“Yeah, it’s good,” McDermott followed up on Monday. “We do things together. And I think that’s the right approach, sharing information, sharing tendencies, how we see things. … Good teamwork yesterday.”
Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich walks during practice on Sept. 10. He has shared play-calling duties with head coach Sean McDermott.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Babich, who has been with the Bills since 2017, starting as an assistant defensive backs coach, shared his perspective on the joint effort on Monday.
“Yeah, it’s been great,” Babich said. “I mean, like I’ve said always, he’s a defensive head coach, right? It’s his system. I’ve happened to be in it with him for 11 years and there’s been different variations of how we’ve done it, and it’s been good. It’s been good.”
Babich said that other defensive assistants are involved between series to share their input as well. He called the “fluid” communication with McDermott a positive.
“So, communication is constantly flowing, constantly flowing, and you kind of just roll with the punches,” Babich said. “We kind of know where we’re gonna go with things, and in the end, it’s about the performance of the defense. That’s it. That’s all that matters.”
McDermott called the defense in the 2023-24 season, the year before Babich was promoted to defense coordinator, and in the wake of previous defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier announcing that he would not be returning to the Bills that season.
Babich said he’s able to see McDermott juggle the duties of calling plays and being a head coach in part because of McDermott’s willingness to listen to position coaches and incorporate what those coaches have been seeing as the game progresses.
“That’s been going on here for nine years,” Babich said. “So most everything on the defensive side has been collaborative, because Sean is a head coach, and he has, he’s got head coach duties to juggle. So if he were to try to do it all, it’d be too much.
“So, it’s a collaborative process, and I think that trust of other people is big for him, as far as allowing people to give their opinions.”
Babich on Oliver, roster moves
The Bills got some hard news to swallow on defense tackle Ed Oliver, who will need surgery on his torn biceps, McDermott said. Babich had watched Oliver ascend recently, and while the defensive coordinator trusts the rest of defensive line, Oliver is a huge loss.
“It’s frustrating because I’ve seen a lot of growth out of Ed, I think in the consistency in his game and just his maturation, which I think he’s talked about, as he attributes it to his children,” Babich said.
“It’s unfortunate. He’s playing well when he was playing, he was impacting games at a high level. It’s unfortunate, but like always, we’ll adjust, we’ll move on. I feel terrible for him, but he’ll be back, he’ll be ready to roll whenever that time is.”
Oliver officially was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.
Additionally, the Bills signed veteran safety Jordan Poyer and veteran defensive tackle Jordan Phillips to the active roster. Phillips was out of practice squad elevations. Poyer had one practice squad elevation left, but the Bills now have two safeties on injured reserve: Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin. The Bills have two veteran spots on the practice squad that are open.
Brady on Gilliam
Fullback Reggie Gilliam played a season-high 26 snaps on offense (41.3%) on Sunday against the Panthers, and he made his presence known. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady saw the way Gilliam’s bullying blocks got the team going.
“We were able to get in a lot of big people runs,” Brady said. “And you got every personnel grouping possible yesterday against it, and every front structure. And you get a guy like Reggie that some games he’s going to not play a lot of reps, some games he’s going to play, he’s going to play a huge role. And he just cleans everything up.”
Gilliam was a force in the run game as running back James Cook went for 216 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. On Cook’s 64-yard touchdown run, Gilliam had a key block.
“He’s a huge part of who we are and what we do,” Brady said. “And a guy that never gets any credit or doesn’t get the production, but he just does his one-eleventh at the highest standard. And good things happen when he’s on the field.”