Bills’ Walker proves his value with a scare

By Anthony Bialy  |   Monday, August 25, 2008  |  Comments( 102 )

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The Buffalo Bills' Langston Walker hurt his arm while engaged in a block on Sunday, but he may as well have been bitten by a snake. “Bad bruise,” the phrase uttered by head coach Dick Jauron in the news conference after the Indianapolis game to classify the seemingly bad luck moment, constituted the most relieving two words Bills fans could want to hear; that said, one more contusion-type wound would officially make it a disturbing trend for a team that saw its quarterback miss the outing after a similarly nasty knock.

Either way, the scare served as a troubling moment that reminded all of how fragile the Bills’ blocking situation remains, a sobering thought especially when weighed against how well the group worked together to help ruin Lucas Oil Stadium’s opening night.

The clenched tension that infected fans until the negative X-ray report and the coach’s final verdict can’t take away from Walker’s otherwise fine game. The could-be left tackle was serving as a formidable barrier in the trickier blindside station until he was excused with that injured arm.

Watching him evolve from a fairly good right-side player into an incrementally better anchor has been one of preseason’s most pleasant moments. Oddly, his sidelining produced a more minor but still notable bright spot, namely rookie Demetrius Bell holding up just fine after he was subsequently thrust into action.

He employed his size well, and the last description fans want to hear right now about a lineman is “Raw but athletically gifted tackle,” but the point remains that rookie Bell is his own man who is demonstrating promise regardless of whether his circumstances are similar to those of a justly maligned AWOL teammate.

Also deserving praise along with Bell was fullback Darian Barnes, who seems to be giddy about hitting people. He’s visibly cognizant about who he’s supposed to encounter and relishes doing it. It’s fantastic to see a throwback fullback pursue what seems to be a dying art; at this point, the only question with Barnes is whether he could play tackle. Not really, but maybe.

Barnes’ mere presence is part of why quarterback J.P. Losman looked sharper Sunday than he often has during his checkered pro career. The Hampton product was the most prominent element of a group that’s entitled to feel a bit of preseason pride: They didn’t permit a sack to their temporary starter, and, while the Bills only gained 3.1 yards per rushing play over the first half, there’s an obvious hope that the average would be bumped up with a full game’s usage of Marshawn Lynch.

They’ve earned slack, anyway. It’s not as if this team deserves to reap karmic agony for mistreating sulky Jason Peters: The Bills are treating him exactly as he deserves, and he can lose $15,000 each day for the next 15,000 days and it still won’t be punishment enough for refusing to work.

In the meantime, the fact Walker is suffering from pain but not a condition should provide some comfort in the short term, although there’s no escaping that any serious injury to any remaining tackle this season will place an unbelievable strain on what is already a thin red, white and blue line.

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CommentsComments: 102  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
jim k		06:21 AM
08/26/2008
unfortunately I didn't get to see the last game (thank you time warner). Did Bell look good? how much did he play? From what I've ...
No.2
garyg		06:43 AM
08/26/2008
The Bills are weak at tackle but with todays NFL there isn't a lot of good depth on too many teams. Your 1 or maybe 2 injuries ...
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No.3
LGB		06:50 AM
08/26/2008
The Bills are screwing up by not starting Bell as a TE first and getting him to sign an extension. For Bell, he had better ...
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