Two Bills Drive

'Seriously, what’s the point of holding a draft luncheon if the man who is in charge of scouting the prospects, and then ultimately picking the prospects, isn’t there to shed some light on said prospects? New coach Sean McDermott has been anointed as the sole voice of the Bills, so he’ll handle the draft luncheon, even though he probably hasn’t done a quarter of the prep work Whaley and his minions have on the 2017 draft class.'

'"Man, that's an hour long answer basically just because of what he does bring to the table," McDermott said. "The movement. You start with the run game, and that's a big part of who we're going to be on offense. You've got to be able to run the football when the defense knows, and that's big. When they feel like they know you're going to run the football, you've got to be able to run it to win games at the end of the game and to open up games. That just opens up the play action game with the play faking and getting Tyrod on the edge of the defense and trying to put ourselves in favorable third down situations and red zone situations. That's a big part of the formula to playing winning football."'

'McMillen had been with the Bills for 21 years, while Liburd had been with the team eight years. Given McDermott's strong belief in the strength and conditioning program, it makes sense he would want to put his own mark on that staff.'

'Director of player engagement Paul Lancaster, team chaplain James Trapp, athletic trainer Greg McMillen and strength-and-conditioning assistant Dan Liburd, who oversaw the players’ nutrition and diet, have all been dismissed, according to the report. McMillen was the longest tenured of the group. He had been with the team for 21 years.'

'First, it feels like smarts and intelligence are winning out over moves made only in self-interest — and I can’t stress enough how important that is. There are allusions to research, logic, and everything the Bills are doing now aren’t coming out of left field. They’re done with purpose, and a large part of it is because the fact-driven head coach has been steadfast in his desires for that to happen.'

'What follows is a position-by-position breakdown of where the Bills roster stands right now, who’s departed from last year’s roster, who’s been added and who remains. We’ve ranked them in order of the most upheaval in the offseason so far…'.

'Known as one of the harder working players on the roster since he joined the team in 2015, Incognito and the vast majority of the roster is expected to be on hand Monday for the start of the offseason program. Attendance has been good over the years to begin with, but knowing it is the first year under new head coach Sean McDermott, it’s likely to prompt just about every player that’s able to be at One Bills Drive Monday morning.'

'The Bills have dismissed director of player engagement Paul Lancaster, his assistant and team chaplain James Trapp, athletic trainer Greg McMillen and strength-and-conditioning assistant Dan Liburd.'

'He looks like a fit for what the Bills want to do defensively.'

'A 55-year old man pleaded guilty Thursday to vehicular assault stemming from a crash in Cheektowaga that paralyzed a driver who was heading home after watching the Buffalo Bills home opener in 2016.'

'"It didn't work. But that wasn't all on Rex. For one, Reggie Ragland got hurt in camp and was out all year. And Shaq Lawson's shoulder, an issue everyone knew about at the time of the draft, became a problem, and he played just 225 snaps (with two sacks) after returning. The Bills' defense was safely in the bottom 10 by any metric, and, well, here's a new coach. The class gets better if Ragland steps up now that he's healthy and if Lawson comes up with sacks. Hopefully Adolphus Washington plays a bigger role and Cardale Jones is at least a reliable backup. But for now it dips, because it certainly couldn't save Rex."'

'“It’s nice to be out there and able to run but this is not track practice, this is football,” McDermott said. “So we’ve got to be able to be physical and tackle. That’s a big part of it for us and our identity – you guys have heard me say it before and you’ll continue to hear me say it – our identity on defense will be built around our corners and their tackling ability and how much our defensive line runs to the football. Those to me are big selling points for our defense.”'

'You have to do everything fast in practice. Move with urgency in each drill and between drills. No coasting. Ever.'

'They didn't specifics his health issue, but Crichton hasn't played since suffering a concussion late in the 2015 season.'

'But putting Whaley in the shadows (he was seen, but not heard here) is awkward, especially when he won't be part of the annual pre-draft media briefing, the one time each year that every GM who has worked for the Bills is always heard. It's standard operating procedure throughout the NFL, despite the fact the GMs say almost nothing of substance.'