With week 3 of Bills OTAs coming to a close Thursday there was a lot of focus on Bills draft choices Arthur Moats and Levi Brown with both players signing their rookie contracts earlier in the day. As far as the two rookies are concerned however, they have far more pressing matters on their mind with a new playbook to learn and more.
"To be honest I hadn't really thought about it a whole lot," said Brown of his contract. "I've just been working on learning the playbook and getting out here at practice and stuff. That's been my focus."
Now a month invested in the system, Brown believes he's processing things out on the field quicker and that's helping with execution.
"Everything is coming a lot easier to me," he said. "The more reps I get and the more I study the easier it is when I get out there. I don't have to think about it as much. As a quarterback it's tough to go out there and perform well when you have to think about every little thing you're doing. The more time I'm in the offense, the more comfortable I feel which is helping me out a lot."
The only problem is Brown confirmed that he has been fourth in the quarterback rotation from the start of OTAs and has not had nearly as many snaps in practice as the three veteran signal callers. He admits it's been a challenge, but isn't going to prevent him from getting a solid grip on the system.
"It's tough. Reps always help obviously, but at the same time when I'm back there I'm going through every play as if I was in, so I'm kind of going through and making my reads in my head," Brown said. "So even though I'm not actually in on the play I'm still getting something out of it."
Moats gets second team repsBrown's fellow draft classmate Arthur Moats has a comparable workload. Not only is he learning a new defensive scheme, he's doing it at a different position. After playing defensive end at James Madison, Moats is now lining up as an inside linebacker where the reads are completely different.
"It's a lot different," he said. "At (defensive) end you're always looking at the tackle and whether his hip is away or pointed at you. That's all you have to know. At linebacker you have to read the fullback and see the guards. The coaches talk about the triangle between the guard, tight end and the fullback. So it's a big difference as far as the reads go and then in the pass game I have to know my drops and different coverages. At defensive end I never had to do that."
Still the coaching staff is giving him every opportunity to pick the system up quickly as he confirmed that he's getting rotated in for second team reps on a regular basis.
"I was a little surprised at how much more playing time I was getting especially as a rookie and coming to a new position getting second team reps, but I'm not wasting any of them," said Moats. "I'm staying in my book and the more reps the better. I'm feeling more comfortable and just getting ready for the season."
Moats said the one part of his game he really wants to clean up so he can play full speed at training camp are his pass drops.
"I feel like I'm understanding the concepts really well, but I still need to know a little bit more right now," he said. "Just so I'm not a second late. I need to already be there. I'm on my toes, but I'm a second late right now. So I want to understand what's going on so I can be there and beat the play. So instead of being an almost knockdown or a pick, it will be knockdown or a pick."
HighlightsFor highlights of Thursday's action you can watch them in Bills Roundup, which can be found in the media lounge at Buffalobills.com.
ScheduleThe Bills will be back on the practice field for Week 4 of voluntary OTAs on Tuesday, June 15th and our coverage will continue here on Buffalobills.com.
