Saturday, October 29, 2011

Bills set to move forward without Merriman

Four years ago, losing a player like Shawne Merriman to injured reserve would have been a bombshell to a defense. But after years of a plaguing Achilles injury that has certainly shown in his intermittent stints on the field, Buffalo's loss of Merriman will be more of a unitary shift than a disruption.

“He had not been playing up to what any of us thought, him included,” Bills coach Chan Gailey told the media Wednesday. “We all felt it was in the best interest to let him try to get this thing completely well and we’ll just plug in some other guys and see if they can go do it.”

Gailey named Spencer Johnson, Danny Batten, Arthur Moats and Antonio Coleman as possible fill-ins for Merriman's spot, though he noted Coleman wouldn't be in this week against the Redskins in Toronto. What the Bills will ask of Merriman now is to provide his replacement(s) with insight into his career success on the pass rush and to provide a strong locker room presence.

“We’d love to have him back, he’s definitely a force and a great guy to have in the locker room, but unfortunately he’s got to fix the body and we’ll wait for him next year,” linebacker Nick Barnett said this past week. “... (He) gets guys out there pumped up pregame and everything...”

Buffalo's pass rush, still dead last in the league in sacks, may have some success in Toronto, as Washington is still trying to get its feet back on the ground after their Week 6 quarterback switch. John Beck has been efficient the last two games, averaging around a quarterback rating of 80, but he was sacked three times last week against Carolina and threw a pick in the loss.

“We definitely have some schematic things, we definitely got to get to the passer, that’s a must so we’re going to work on that and get that fixed,” Barnett said. “If we can continue to take away the ball, get some pass rush, and stop the big plays I think you’ll see our defense statistically move up real fast.”