Buffalo Bills safeties have a rough night in Chicago: 'A lot that needs to be cleaned up'
Safeties Cole Bishop and Damar Hamlin took the first snaps with the Bills' defense Sunday night at Soldier Field, and they looked shaky.
The Buffalo Bills are still working through issues at the safety position, a concern that was highlighted in Sunday’s 38-0 preseason loss to the Chicago Bears.
Safeties Cole Bishop and Damar Hamlin took the first snaps with the Bills' defense Sunday night at Soldier Field, and they looked shaky – especially on the first series. That's when the Bears' first-team offense covered 92 yards and finished with a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Caleb Williams to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, a play on which both safeties were beaten.
Starting safety Taylor Rapp sat out along with almost all of the Bills starters. Cam Lewis, who plays both safety and nickel cornerback, also missed Sunday's game with a calf injury.
Bills safety Cole Bishop, left, tackles Bears running back D'Andre Swift during the first half of Sunday night's game at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Bishop was the lone projected starter on defense to take the field for the Bills in the first quarter. Bishop missed a good chunk of training camp with a quad injury, and he was limited in Friday’s joint practice against the Bears.
“Obviously, trying to get my feet back underneath me – I’ve only been back at practice for a little bit,” Bishop said after the loss. “But I felt good. It felt good to get back out there and knock off some rust, but definitely some stuff to improve on.”
Bishop played a series and a half before he went to the sideline, his shaky night finished with one total tackle. After the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott said Bishop had been on a preventative rep count as he eases back into playing.
“With that, I wanted to get him more reps,” McDermott said. “He needs more experience. He needs more reps. That’s where you work out some of these things and that’s how you build the callousness, and it comes from experience.
“There’s nothing more important for him than the experience he got tonight and moving forward. Even tonight, he was on a rep count of roughly 10 to 12 plays there.”
Rookie Jordan Hancock replaced Bishop. Before that, Bishop and Hamlin struggled on that 36-yard touchdown catch by Zaccheaus, with Bishop trailing in coverage, then Hamlin unable to bring Zaccheaus down.
“Obviously have to see it on film,” Bishop said. “Could have had tighter coverage and everything like that, but just have to see it on film.”
Bishop and Hamlin came back for the start of the next drive, but after a few plays, Bishop exited.
Hancock entered the game at safety, though the rookie defensive back has been splitting time throughout training camp between safety and nickel.
When the Bills' defense started to play in the second half, Hancock moved to nickel. On the second play of the drive, Hancock made a tackle, leading with his head. He had a hard hit on Bears tight end Joel Wilson, and Hancock looked to be in immediate pain. Athletic trainers rushed out, as he quickly flipped over onto his back.
Hancock got up on his own and walked off the field, straight to the bench. Shortly after, Hancock was ruled out of the game with a shoulder injury.
“He grew a little bit and then, unfortunately, got hurt,” McDermott said of Hancock. “These young guys, they’re all learning.”
After the game, Hancock said he was feeling good, though he had been nervous about the injury.
“I was kind of scared. Since Little League, I've never had to stay on the floor for injuries, so I was definitely scared; my parents were scared; but I feel fine,” Hancock said.
On top of the injury itself, Hancock lamented the timing, since he got just two snaps at nickel.
“It was a bummer,” Hancock said. “I wanted to play all over the field that whole game, so sad I got injured, but I’ll be fine.”
But he played well before the injury. The rookie defensive back finished with eight tackles, tying cornerback Dorian Strong for most on the team.
“I felt fine,” Hancock said of his performance. “It was kind of rocky, ups and downs, but I feel like I was staying (with) the ebbs and flows of the game, and I feel like the game was getting slower throughout the reps I got.”
Hamlin played into the second quarter, before he was done for the night, totaling two tackles. Safeties Tre Herndon, Darrick Forrest and Wande Owens rounded out the night for the Bills.
The Bills have three more weeks to solidify their safety group before opening the season on Sept. 7 against the Baltimore Ravens.
Rapp has been working through a knee injury and was also limited in Friday’s joint practice. He warmed up Sunday ahead of the preseason game and likely would have played if it had been the regular season.
Even so, depth is still a concern with the group dealing with different injuries.
Asked initially if he was concerned about Bishop, McDermott looked to bigger issues.
“I’m concerned about a lot of things coming off of tonight,” McDermott said. “Gotta look at the film and really just see who we have, who can help us, what we may need and also things we can be better execution-wise, fundamentally and those things. There’s a lot that needs to be cleaned up.”
