What Bills’ Sean McDermott said about signing Devonta Freeman
The Buffalo Bills threw a curveball into their running back decision on Tuesday and it goes by the name of Devonta Freeman.
Buffalo (13-3) added the veteran free agent rusher, who was recently released by the New York Giants, ahead of their Divisional round matchup against the Baltimore Ravens (11-5). That decision came on the heels of Zack Moss (ankle) being placed on injured reserve.
Moss was dinged up against the Indianapolis Colts in the Bills’ 27-24 Wild Card round win. Most point to and assume Devin Singletary, who was splitting carries with Moss, will take on No. 1 duties. But that still means he needs his backup, a guy who could see playing time himself vs. the Ravens.
Freeman gives the Bills an intriguing option and Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said his experience having to defend against Freeman personally in the past made him a desirable addition.
“I had the unfortunate opportunity to go against him in the NFC South for a number of years so I had a front row seat to witness what he’s capable of doing. Bringing him into the running back room I think was a good move by Brandon (Beane). He adds to what we have and we’ll try to get him up to speed as quickly as possible,” McDermott said via video conference.
Naturally the biggest question with Freeman potentially playing is can he get up to speed? That’s a big ask in a few days, the Bills didn’t feel comfortable enough last week with forcing wide receiver Kenny Stills to do so… as he, like Freeman, was a late-season addition to the team’s practice squad.
“It’s a lot of information to digest in a short amount of time,” McDermott added. “That’s kind of the biggest challenge.”
One to always try to keep his opponent guessing, McDermott will not be revealing what the team will do. The decision comes down to Freeman, TJ Yeldon and Antonio Williams, who like Freeman is also on Buffalo’s practice squad.
“TJ Yeldon has played in a lot of games and at a high level and you take it all the way down to Antonio and what we saw him do a few weeks ago,” McDermott said.
Really we won’t have any idea what McDermott will do until about just before 7 p.m. on Saturday.
On Friday is when the Bills will likely make any callups from the practice squad. Still, even if McDermott decides to call up Freeman, Williams, or both, 90 minutes before kickoff teams announce their inactive lists for a game. The Bills have previously called up players and still left them inactive on game day.
So nothing in regard to the No. 2 running back spot will be fully settled until game day. Looking back on the way the Bills handled Stills, it would be a surprise to see Freeman get such a quick callup, but the coach, at minimum, left that option on the table as of Wednesday.
