Here's the Bills news of note for May 22nd.
**1 - Lawson's first swing at OTAs
**
Last year, the Bills took defensive end Shaq Lawson in the first round of the NFL draft. Lawson was not able to have the season that he anticipated due to a shoulder surgery that occurred in early May.
The surgery kept him out of football activities for four to six months where he was then placed on the Reserve/PUP list. Now healthy to fully participate in the OTA's this year, Lawson is grateful to be working with his teammates.
"It feels great to be in everything: OTA's, off-season workouts. I feel like last year I was just, it feels like it was going by slow because I was hurt and trying to determine when I'm getting back on the field," Lawson said. "I'm making sure every day I'm taking care of my body a lot more so I can continue to be on the field. But it's been great going out here with OTA's, getting to know the new rookies, getting to know schemes, new coaches and things like that so it's been great!"
With a healthy offseason, can the former first round pick make a bigger contribution on the defense?
2 - Beane comments on OTAsNewly hired general manager, Brandon Beane, appeared on the John Murphy Show last Friday to talk about his initial thoughts on how the OTAs have gone thus far.
"I think guys are making plays and guys are settling in. But, I liked what was going on yesterday. Sean did a good job," Beane said. "They worked on some game management situations. It's fourth down, It'll be third-and-six after that, punt team be ready, field goal team be ready and there was a couple of errors. A couple of mistakes.
"They're getting it going. But it's good to get that going, those guys thinking about situations and when we get to camp, it's going to get even more important to be ready for those. Sean jumped them a couple of times, which I thought was necessary. The more they do it, the more reps they get then the better they'll be in the fall."
Efficiency and awareness seem to be traits valued equally by Buffalo's GM and head coach.
3 - Pro Football Focus: Jerry Hughes is in elite company
Pro Football Focus is a well known website that provides in-depth data and analytics. Jerry Hughes switched to an outside linebacker in Rex Ryan's 3-4 defensive scheme but that did not stop him from getting to the quarterback.
PFF recently posted this tweet showing that Jerry Hughes is top five in the NFL for QB pressures since 2014. He comes in at fourth right underneath Von Miller, DPOY Khalil Mack and Ryan Kerrigan. He has posted 170 pressures since 2014.
Although he moved to outside linebacker in Ryan's scheme, he'll be back at defensive end under the new 4-3 scheme. It's an encouraging stat as Hughes continues to climb the ladder of premier NFL pass rushers.
