On friday afternoon, Bills' special team coach Bruce DeHaven told Danny Batten and Arthur Moats they were being taken off of the kick coverage unit for Sunday's game against the Eagles during their special teams meeting.
Batten and Moats looked at each other for a second, wondering what was going on, but it only took a minute or so before they figured out that injured Chris Kelsay wasn't going to be able to go on Sunday and they were being taken off of kick coverage because it was their time to step in as the next man up at outside linebacker.
"We're kind of looking at each other....Moats is an insde backer, he bounces outside a little bit. We kind of put it all together, then [defensive coordinator Edwards] came in and said it's time to step up."
Edwards told Batten, "you're going to be the person out there in base. We'll have a rotation, but you're up" Batten told me after practice on Friday afternoon.
And there it was. One moment Batten is sitting in a special teams metting, and the next he's staring down the prospects of chasing one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in NFL history around The Ralph all afternoon on Sunday.
"You can make it as stressful and nerve-wracking' as you want, but at the end of the day, it's just football. I'm not gonna sit there and think 'Oh, I'm going against Michael Vick.' Hopefully I can go out there and capitalize on this opportunity" said Batten, who had the same demeanor on Friday as you would picture he had going into games in high school and in his days at South Dakota State.
But still, this IS Michael Vick who Batten will be going up against in his first game as the starting outside linebacker for the Buffalo Bills. The challenges are gigantic and obvious, and as much as you want to go out there and just play the game, there's so many things to worry about, not to mention it being your first game as a starter in the NFL after a long and winding road to get to this point.
"He's hard to sack and the offensive line knows it, so they let you go wherever you want to go when you rush him. It's a real gray area on what you do, because if you take an edge and you get run by, he's gone."
That's where veteran leadership comes into play. They can fill in that gray area and help a young, talented guy like Batten understand what he needs to do to keep Vick bottled up.
"That's why it's awesome to have guys in the middle like Nick (Barnett) and Kirk (Morrison) and Andra (Davis) who I've learned a ton from. And Shawne Merriman, he's awesome. I've already learned so much from him and (Chris) Kelsay."
Watching how Batten, Moats and Merriman deal with Vick with the outside pass rush is definitely one of the more intriguing storylines heading into Sunday's giant clash with the Eagles. Philly is desperate. They can't afford to go 1-4 after all the hype...much of which has been generated by their own players.
For the Bills, it's an absolutely winnable game. Vick will get off and make plays. Batten and the defense know that, but it's about minimizing the damage. A big chunk of the gameplan has to be for Fred Jackson and the offense to stay on the field, and keep Vick off of it.
But when the defense takes the field, it's simple for Batten. Like Coach Edwards told him in plain and simple terms on Friday, it's time to step up.
Follow Kevin on Twitter, and "LIKE" The Buffalo Bills Tailgating page on Facebook to keep up with all of the latest exploits at The Ralph on gameday!
.
Comments