Here's the Bills news of note for June 13th.
**1 - McCoy cracks NFL's Top 30
**It wasn't surprising he was on the list, but it was a heck of a jump from last year. LeSean McCoy appeared on the NFL's Top 100 list again in 2017, but his ranking was 42 spots higher than 2016 when he ranked 69th. McCoy checked in at No. 27 on the list after finishing the 2016 season sixth in rushing, fourth in rushing touchdowns and third in yards per carry average (5.41).
The Bills feature back is the second Bills player to appear on the NFL's Top 100 list this year. Lorenzo Alexander is the only other Bills player on the list thus far. He was No. 91 after his 12.5-sack season in 2016.
2 - Dareus finds his 'Zen mode'Marshawn Lynch invented 'Beast mode.' Bills DT Marcell Dareus has borrowed, 'Zen mode' from retired NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. It's the defensive tackle's new and improved approach to being the best player he can be for Buffalo.
Now seven years into his NFL career, Dareus sounds like he finally appreciates the ability he possesses and wants to maximize it.
"I haven't been taking it for granted and I've been seizing every moment," Dareus said in an interview on the John Murphy Show. "In the weight room, workouts, film study and talking with the coaches. I'm really just being a pro's pro. Understanding be a pro and being a professional, saying it is one thing but with this being my profession, I'm being a professional at my profession. I'm just doing my thing, man. I'm in my Zen mode as Kobe would say."
Dareus assures that this new approach was all his own doing. Head coach Sean McDermott, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and defensive line coach Mike Waufle did not have any influence on his decision to wholly commit to his NFL career.
"They have nothing to do with this. I'm doing this for myself and for my teammates," he said. "For Kyle Williams. It's just for me and my kids. It's about us. I'm not doing it for anyone else. I'm in my Zen man, I'm focused.'' Dareus wants to prove to himself that he can still be the offense-wrecking, dominant player in the trenches that he's been in a couple of his six previous seasons with Buffalo.
"It's just me and myself. I owe it to myself and to the Buffalo Bills, the fans," said Dareus. "I mean I really just want to be the best I can possibly be. Finally put it all together and see what I can actually do."
3 - Jones working on rapport with Bills QBsHe missed a couple of weeks of OTA practices and that didn't help, but steadily Bills second-round pick Zay Jones is trying to develop an on field rapport with each of the team's starting quarterbacks. Quarterbacks roll through every three reps or so during the team periods and receivers are rolling through as well.
"Obviously it's going to take time and we have time before our first game," said Jones in an appearance on the John Murphy Show. "So there is minicamp, which is the next step, and then training camp. So there will be plenty of opportunities to go with Tyrod, T.J., Nate or Cardale… whoever it is out there throwing me the football.
"Ultimately for me my job is to catch the football. It may spin a little bit differently being a different quarterback or come at me at a different velocity, but for me my fundamentals don't change, eye on the point, catch the fat, do my job and the rest will take care of itself."
Jones says one challenge is stepping into the huddle with each quarterback to hear the play call. It never sounds quite the same from one QB to the other.
"When I was going through my sprained knee and not playing I could read the plays and know my responsibility," said Jones. "It's a lot different when you're in the huddle and Tyrod spits a play out in two or three seconds and you're like, 'Okay what was my job?' Or Cardale may come with a different pitch or speed that he says it. So everyone is different.
"It's all about getting with those guys and bonding with them and being a team. Understanding how he may say something or interpret something and rolling from there. It's my job as a rookie to catch up. These guys aren't slowing down."
