Two Bills Drive

‘“I’m not surprised,” Bills special teams coach Heath Farwell said of Bass’ play during the playoffs. “He’s a guy who believes in himself. He knows we believe in him. His confidence never wavers. He does not act like a rookie. There’s no question in my mind, even when he’s missed a kick or two, he’s never wavered. He does all the right things like you’d see an old vet do.”’

‘The problem with evaluating kickoff returns in the summer is teams don’t like to practice full-speed, full-contact returns, exposing their players to injury on both sides of the ball. In preseason games, the kickoffs fly far in hot weather, which leads to touchbacks. The Bills had only six kickoff returns in four exhibition games in 2019 and only four in 2018.’

‘When Tasker, the former Bills special teams star, stepped in last season to work alongside play-by-play announcer John Murphy in a year in which the Bills made it to the AFC title game, he made it clear to Wood he would give up the role when the former Bills center could do the broadcasts again.’

‘How much of a McDermott guy is Johnson? He was a two-time championship wrestler in high school in Miami. McDermott has a fondness for players who were wrestlers, because he was a standout in the sport in high school.’

‘Top position battle: With the starting spots locked for the fifth straight season, the only competition is for two backup spots. The leading candidates figure to be Johnson and Hamlin. Thomas and Thompson will be in the mix, but probably won’t survive the final cuts.’

‘“Just trusting my work, because I’ve put in way too much work to second-guess anything about myself, to be honest,” Johnson said. “Just sticking to the script and trusting myself and trusting all the work that I’ve done in the offseason and in the building with the Bills – that’s definitely the biggest thing is staying with that same mindset throughout the whole season.”’

‘Top position battle: Levi Wallace vs. Dane Jackson.’

‘“Honestly, when I was walking up and I saw all the kids in the bleachers, I said to myself, ‘jeez, I was one of those kids one day,’ ” Dodson told The Buffalo News on Thursday. “It’s just crazy, being the guy going to camps and now I’m hosting a camp. That goes into the hard work, the late nights and early mornings that I’ve put into getting here.”’

‘The Bills are set at the top with Edmunds, Milano and Klein as the starters. The backup picture has some questions, though. Tyler Matakevich reworked his contract, which is fully guaranteed for 2021, so he’s sure to stick around as the fourth linebacker. He’s primarily used on special teams, however, so the backup roles are to be determined. Adams had a productive 2020 season with the Texans, finishing with 114 total tackles, two sacks, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles.’

‘“Last year I played at a solid 254,” Johnson said. “This year I know I needed to add a little bit of pounds. So I’m at 263, and I feel good at 263. My main move is stab, long arm. So you’ve got to have a little weight behind you to push those big guys back.”’

‘Look for the Bills to give rookie draft picks Greg Rousseau and Carlos Basham plenty of snaps in training camp and preseason. That’s how it worked in spring. The coaches will want to get those two up to speed as much as possible before the season opener.’