Welcome to this week’s Bills Mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions …
Gerald in Lewiston asks: I’m sure I’m not the first to suggest it, but maybe it’s time for Josh Allen to start wearing a visor. Is that something that he needs to get used to? Matt Milano is a sad story. Are there ways to protect yourself from strains or tears?
Jay: Allen said Tuesday he plans to wear a clear visor Thursday night against the Dolphins, which will be a first in his NFL career. Allen has worn the visor for practices, and wore one during college, so it shouldn’t be a huge adjustment.
As for Milano, his latest injury continues an unfortunate trend. While we don’t know the severity yet – coach Sean McDermott wasn’t exactly forthcoming with that information during the week – Milano has now dealt with some sort of injury in three straight seasons. At 31 years old and in the final year of his contract, it’s possible we’re seeing the last of Milano in a Bills jersey this season. He was ruled out of the game against Miami by McDermott on Wednesday.
Jeff Rochwarger asks: What can the two defensive linemen, who are suspended for another four weeks, do to stay as close to “football” shape as possible? Once they are back, how long would you expect them to be in “game” shape.
Jay: Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi both talked to my colleague, Lance Lysowski, during the preseason about their plan. Hoecht said he will remain near Orchard Park, so that he can keep the same routine. He planned to work out at a private gym in Hamburg and go through defensive-line drills at a nearby football field, following a plan given to him by the team’s strength and conditioning staff. Ogunjobi was unsure if he would stay in Orchard Park or go to his offseason home in Miami, but would be on a similar plan as Hoecht. They will both be able to begin practicing after Week 4, although they can’t return to the lineup until Week 8 (the Bills’ bye week comes in Week 7).
I would expect that the Bills will rotate Hoecht and Ogunjobi into the lineup slowly at first, but that’s typical along the defensive line. Both are veterans, so I’d expect them to be mostly up to speed within a couple games of their return.
Ken T. asks: I’ve been a football and Bills fan for more than 65 years. These 60-plus-yard field goals were never intended to happen when the game was invented and refined over many years. I feel it diminishes from the team aspect of the sport, especially when 11 guys just worked their butts off to tie or take the lead on a hard-fought series of downs and minimum time left to do it. Is there any support of owners and powers to be to raise the cross bar or narrow the posts or let the defense climb up on each other?
Jay: As recently as 2007, the success rate on field goals of 50-plus yards was worse than 50%.
In November of last year, however, NPR reported that the success rate on such attempts had risen to more than 70% league-wide during the 2024 season.
“Obviously, it’s something you take note of. It changes the game. It changes strategy,” Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president for communications, said nearly a year ago when asked whether the league would consider a rule change to make field goals more difficult.
At the 2015 Pro Bowl, the league experimented with goal posts that were 14 feet apart, down from the current 18.5 feet. It’s fair to say it’s on the league’s radar, although I don’t get the sense a rule change is imminent.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack
Remember, too, that the league changed the extra point spot in 2015, moving it back to the 15-yard line. That has made it more than an afterthought, and serves as evidence the league is willing to make changes to kicking rules.
So what has made kickers so good? It’s a number of factors, but the largest is probably specialized training and coaching. There are kicking coaches who drill position-specific programs throughout the offseason. Advances in equipment and field conditions also help, as does increased trust among coaches to attempt longer field goals.
Dave S. asks: So my daughter wants to be Dana Scully for Halloween after seeing an old “X-Files” couples costume my wife and I wore years ago. How’s this for a conspiracy theory: The Bills brought back Jordan Phillips to everyone’s surprise when they already had a full defensive tackle roster because they had a trade in the works for Micah Parsons until DeWayne Carter’s injury. Maybe Ed Oliver and a first or two for Parsons. As good as Oliver looked in the opener, Parsons looks like a sure-bet Super Bowl if put on a team with Josh Allen.
Jay: Hold on, Dave, let me grab my tinfoil hat. … OK, now I’m ready. There are a couple of problems with your theory: No. 1, I don’t think DeWayne Carter’s injury would greatly change the Bills’ plan, especially if they thought they had a chance to acquire Parsons. No offense to Carter, but he was fifth on the organizational depth chart at defensive tackle. The Bills have Ogunjobi coming back from suspension after Week 6. Carter’s injury wouldn’t be enough to blow up a deal for Parsons. The much bigger issue was the salary cap. The Bills simply didn’t have the room to fit Parsons under the cap. He signed a four-year deal with Green Bay that is worth up to $186 million, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history on an average annual basis. That would require some serious salary cap gymnastics by the Bills to make it work.
Ed asks: Did you get the sense that the Bills were playing it close to the vest offensively and weren’t going to open up the playbook and offense after halftime against the Jets? With that being said, when might the Bills start throwing more deep passes?
Also, forget PFF for once, what letter grade would you give Cole Bishop for his performance against the Jets? Why that grade?
Jay: Yes, I’m sure there was plenty of “let’s just get this game over and get to Thursday” in the second half against the Jets, as you would expect with a big lead. The Bills were actually near the league lead in deep attempts after Week 1. They showed against the Jets they can win with a rush-heavy attack, too. That makes them exceptionally difficult to defend, because it’s a “pick your poison” situation with Josh Allen and James Cook.
As for Bishop, the eyeball test says he did much better than Week 1. He had his first career sack. He tied for the team lead with five tackles. The Bills gave up just 154 total yards of offense, so everyone on the defense deserves a passing grade. I’d give Bishop an A- against the Jets.
McDermott seemed to agree, saying he liked what he saw from both Bishop and Taylor Rapp against the Jets.
Brian Reed in Stuttgart, Germany asks: Listening to play by play of the Bills by the TV commentators makes me wonder how often they get it wrong. I am sure fans of other teams wonder the same thing. Do they contact the local sportswriters the week of the game to pick your brains on the Bills? If not, I think they should.
Jay: First off, wow! A question from Germany. Thank you for writing. That’s pretty cool, and shows the Bills’ reach. I’m honored you took the time to write. As for your answer, I have never had a TV crew reach out to me personally, but I do know that a packet of articles written about the team is made available to them. That includes work from The Buffalo News, along with several other outlets that cover the team on a regular basis. How much that information is reviewed, I’m not sure, but I know it is compiled. As for last week’s game, I’m not listening to the TV broadcast during the game, but it sounds like Tony Romo didn’t have his finest hour. Tony, if you’re interested, you can subscribe to buffalonews.com for $1 for six months. That will give you everything you need to know about the Bills through the Super Bowl. What do you say?
Bill Sullivan asks: While Ed Oliver’s injury would appear to be a freak accident with somebody stepping on his foot, injuries during the practice week are all too common. I’m wondering why the Bills don’t take more precautions. For example: wearing knee braces, ankle braces and other sorts of protection that they would never wear during a game but would help prevent them from getting hurt at practice. Sort of like the padded helmets they wear.
Jay: As evidenced by Allen wearing a visor this week, some of that does occur. It’s a decision made by the training staff and player on a case-by-case basis. Ultimately, it comes down to what you said, Bill: You can take all the precautions you want, but football is a violent game played by some of the biggest, strongest, fastest athletes on the planet. As players so often say, there is a 100% injury rate in the league. It’s an accepted risk in their chosen profession. The Bills are proactive about doing all they can to limit the risk. A good example of that is last week when McDermott changed the Thursday practice to a walk-through. That was done to give their bodies more recovery time.
Thank you for all the questions this week! As a reminder, they can be submitted via X to @JaySkurski or by email to jskurski@buffnews.com.
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Jay Skurski
News Sports Reporter
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today