Consulting With The Coaches

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Bills Notebook | Early AFC Championship injury update, Buffalo's defensive trio and controlling the line of scrimmage

Jan 20, 2025 at 06:51 PM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

News and notes from Monday's media availability with Bills HC Sean McDermott, OC Joe Brady and DC Bobby Babich

Injury update heading into AFC Championship

Bills head coach Sean McDermott gave an update on injuries from Sunday's win over the Ravens, specifically on S Taylor Rapp, CB Christian Benford and CB Taron Johnson.

Rapp left the game in the first half with a hip injury and was later downgraded to out. McDermott said that Rapp will be day-to-day as the team prepares to face the Chiefs.

"We'll see how he goes throughout the week," McDermott said.

Benford will start the week in the concussion protocol. McDermott shared that the play occurred on the Ravens' onside kick at the end of the game where Benford collided with a Baltimore special teams player while Rasul Douglas made the recovery.

Johnson had a hard fall in the second half trying to make a tackle and briefly left the game. The 2023 All-Pro re-entered the game after missing a few plays.

McDermott said that Johnson is "sore" but "all in all, okay".

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A healthy trio lends helping hand

Bills fans on social media throughout the week leading up to the Divisional game were quick to circulate a photo of LB Matt Milano, LB Terrel Bernard and CB Taron Johnson standing on the sideline in street clothes during the Week 4 loss at Baltimore earlier this season. All three players missed that matchup due to injury.

In Sunday's 27-25 win in Buffalo, Milano, Bernard and Johnson were three of the Bills' most impactful defenders on the field.

According to Next Gen Stats, Milano led the Bills pass rush with 4 pressures on 9 pass rushes, including 3 unblocked pressures. He also knocked down a Ravens two-point conversion attempt in the third quarter that would've tied the game.

Bernard contributed with a game-changing forced fumble and recovery on TE Mark Andrews, while Johnson played a key role in Buffalo's early run defense.

Buffalo also rolled with three linebackers instead of their typical two LB look on early and short yardage down to give them extra size to deal with the Ravens rushing attack. Second-year LB Dorian Williams saw 24 snaps on Sunday; he had zero snaps in the Wild Card round.

"There were moments in there where they were working together really good," DC Bobby Babich said of the three LB sets. "I can put them in a better position at times. But they knew what the plan was. It was pretty specific, and they did a good job executing."

Bernard, the captain of the Bills defense, was tasked with making sure the Buffalo defense was properly aligned each snap and in the right position to guard against the run, as well as Baltimore's read option attack.

RB Derrick Henry was held to just 21 yards rushing in the first half on eight carries as Buffalo held a 21-10 lead going into the locker room.

The CBS broadcast several times showed Bernard calling out shifts and assignments to the other 10 defenders before the ball was snapped. The instincts from the third-year linebacker were on display in the biggest game of the year to this point, and surely make up for what some say is an undersized middle linebacker at 6-foot-1, 224 pounds.

"When it comes to the intangibles, Terrel is the total package," Babich said. "Really liked him coming out of Baylor, and I knew a lot of what people wouldn't like him for, the things that, in my mind, don't matter as much in football. And we're lucky to have him."

Brady: Wanted to dictate line of scrimmage

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady shared what his observations were of the Bills offense that ran for 147 rushing yards, the most allowed by the Ravens defense this season. Buffalo out-rushed Baltimore 87-73 in the first half.

"I felt yesterday, the way that the game was going, that controlling the football and being able to run the ball was giving us an opportunity (to win)," Brady said. "Specifically in the first half, it felt like controlling the line of scrimmage was in our favor."

Brady felt that the offense was controlling the pace of play how he wanted to for most of the night, but added that the execution could've been better on their final drive of the game after Bernard's fumble recovery.

With a 24-19 lead and 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Bills had a chance to put the game out of reach with a touchdown. Buffalo drove the ball all the way down to the Ravens' 2-yard line, but were denied on QB run by Josh Allen on third down. The Bills settled for a field goal attempt.

Brady shared that the third down play call was a similar play from Allen's touchdown run earlier in the game, but this time the Ravens defender on the edge crashed down to tackle Allen instead of going to his right to cover WR Mack Hollins.

"Similar to the touchdown earlier in the game. And just the guy that we thought would be covering Mack didn't cover him and is an unblocked player," Brady said.

As Buffalo moved deeper into the postseason, Brady added that if the offense is presented with another opportunity like that, his goal is to have the Bills offense end the game on their terms with a touchdown.