Sean McDermott: Jordan Phillips, Shaq Lawson bring the fun back with them to Bills
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott is happy to have defensive lineman Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson back in the fold.
On the surface level, it’s a good look for the team and the coach knows that.
“It’s good when guys go elsewhere and want to come back,” McDermott said via video conference.
But McDermott pulled the curtain back on why exactly having the duo back is such a positive for the locker room in Buffalo.
Like it is for fans, spring practices can be a bit dull for players. That is, comparing them to Sunday afternoons in the fall when the real action takes place.
When you have guys like Phillips and Lawson, it’s a bit better.
“There’s not a quiet day in the building with Jordan and Shaq and I would add Tim Settle to that group.,” McDermott said. “But that makes it fun. There’s a lot of good energy out there. A little bit of trash talking yesterday. So that’s–as long as it’s kept within the fence–it’s healthy for us and the guys respond to it and it keeps things fun this time of the year.”
On the field, Phillips and Lawson return to Buffalo to be part of the team’s revamped defensive line. The highlight of that is All-Pro Von Miller, but with the rotation McDermott’s defenses always employ, there will be some playing time to go around.
In having experienced that previously, both players know that will be the case.
But things are still a bit… different, according to Phillips.
Phillips left Buffalo originally for the Arizona Cardinals, signing there as a free agent. After spending two seasons there, Phillips now feels a bit like the elder statesman in the room.
“From the first time I was here, I was kind of the young guy. It’s weird now, because now I’m kind of the old guy. I’m trying to spread the knowledge of what I do have. But our guys in our room, the ability we have is just unreal,” Phillips told the Buffalo News. “We just need to come together fast and get it going.”
At 29, some will argue that point made by Phillips.
Despite that, Phillips signed a one-year deal with the Bills this spring. In the past he did the same thing in an effort to “prove it.”
He did just that, notching 9.5 sacks with Buffalo in 2019 which led the team.
The Bills would love for the “old man” to repeat that in 2022.
