"There's a lot of work to be done," Alonso said Wednesday night, in an appearance on The John Murphy Show. "But we've got a lot of great players. It's definitely a great time to be a Bill."
The work Kiko refers to is going on right now, as he rehabs his injured left knee. Alonso tore the ACL is his knee last July in a personal workout in Oregon after the Bills minicamp ended. He's been working with trainer Dave Spitz at the California Strength gym in San Ramon, California. Spitz is the same trainer who got Alonso ready for the NFL Combine two years ago.
Alonso says his rehab regimen is a grind, but he's working hard at it. "Basically I'm just rehabbing four-five days a week- just recovering," he says. "That's it. That's all I do, work out and recover and wait for the next workout."
The Bills second round draft pick in 2013 spent all of last season on the sidelines, much of that time in Orchard Park working out and rebuilding his knee under the supervision of the Bills training staff. It was quite a letdown after his remarkable rookie season, when he finished with 159 tackles, four interceptions, and was the PFWA Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Photos of Bills LB Kiko Alonso's career to date.
"It always sucks to be on the sideline and not be able to get out there and play," he told host John Murphy. "I was rehabbing, attending meetings, getting back into the flow of the game. So I wasn't completely out the whole year. I was able to get in there and watch film and be around the guys, which was nice." By the end of the 2014 season, Alonso was able to travel with the team to road games.
Alonso watched his teammates on defense pick up the slack when he was out of the lineup. He liked what he saw.
"They played great. Top to bottom, the d-line, obviously the d-line is on another level. Our linebackers and secondary also played extremely well. When you hit on all cylinders like that it's pretty hard to put up points against a defense."
Now, he gets ready to rejoin a Buffalo defense that once again is in transition. Alonso figures there's a good fit for him in Rex Ryan and Dennis Thurman's new defensive scheme. And he's expecting to be ready to go when the Bills hit training camp in July.
WATCH: Kiko's road to recovery
"I anticipate being 100 percent before camp," he says. "By camp, I definitely feel I'll be at 100 percent. I feel very good with where I'm at. By camp I'll be full go."
Alonso thinks the Buffalo defense can pick up where it left off last year. And he predicts good things ahead for the entire team.
"I have very high expectations," Kiko said. "We have a great defense and a great offense as well. I expect nothing less than to go out there and win a lot of games."
