Ex-Bills bunkering down in Foxborough foxhole
Super Bowl champions continue to pluck players from division rival in Buffalo
It’s not like the Buffalo Bills are the New England Patriots’ triple-A farm team or anything. Just don’t go there.
But the number of ex-Bills on the Pats’ roster seems to rise by the year, and their collective impact appears set to rise, too.
As the Patriots kicked off training camp Thursday on team practice fields outside Gillette Stadium, five former Bills were listed on the 90-man roster: holdovers Alan Branch (defensive lineman), Chris Hogan (wide receiver) and Glenn Gronkowski (fullback/tight end), plus new arrivals Stephon Gilmore (cornerback) and Mike Gillislee (running back).
The latter two figure to play prominent roles on the 2017 Patriots.
Gilmore, the No. 10 overall draft pick in 2012, played out his rookie contract in Buffalo before striking it rich with the Pats in March, signing for US$65 million over five years, with a US$18million signing bonus and US$40 million guaranteed.
Gillislee signed as a restricted free agent with New England in April, when the Bills opted not to match the Patriots’ US$6.4-million, two-year contract offer.
Gillislee remains a little-known NFL running back — but probably not for much longer. He has three NFL seasons under his belt. He barely played in his first season, 2013, as a fifthround draft pick with the Miami Dolphins. But over the past two seasons with the Bills, Gillislee overachieved while somehow remaining mostly overlooked — rushing a combined 148 times for 844 yards (an impressive 5.7-yard average) and scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground. He also caught 15 passes for 79 yards and a TD in Buffalo.
Was Gillislee hoping a winning team such as the Patriots would trump the Bills’ lowball offer when he entered restricted free agency?
“I was just blessed to get another opportunity to play football, no matter where I went,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “I’m so happy to be here. All I can do is come out here and help make this team the best it can be.”
In Buffalo, Gilmore matched up well against teams’ big-bodied top receivers, but sometimes struggled to stay in man coverage with shifty, speedy scatback types. Does he feel he has something to prove in 2017?
“I feel I have to prove myself every year,” Gilmore said. “I’ve been doing that my whole life. That’s what I’m here to do — improve myself, take it to the practice field and try to have it carry over to the games.”
Was it strange for Gilmore — whose Bills went 2-8 against the Patriots in his five years — putting on Patriots gear for the first time in the spring, after coming from Western New York, where no one but failed franchise purchaser/relocator Jon Bon Jovi is hated more than Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Pats?
“Ummmm. I mean, I guess you hate winners. I don’t know,” Gilmore said, actually going there. “It’s not strange. It’s different faces, different coaches, different plays we run. It’s fun.”
The five ex-Bills can’t name their little club Bills Mafia, as that’s the moniker of one of the NFL’s most loyal fan bases.
“Yeah, they’ve got that. It’s cool,” Gilmore said. “Those (former Bills) players, they called me when I first got here. It was fun, seeing familiar faces coming out here. They encourage you.
“They say you come in and prove yourself every day.”
He’s all right with that. Gillislee is, too.
“It’s all about opportunities at this level,” Gillislee said. “Wherever I’ve been, I’ve always maximized my opportunities. We have a lot of great backs here, and we compete hard every day.”
What’s his most important short-term task in trying to get more snaps in the Pats’ longstanding “running back-by-committee” approach?
“Just learning the system, getting it down pat,” Gillislee said. “It’s a big playbook. So just taking that extra time, studying the playbook, so I can go out here and play fast.
“Staying healthy is my top personal goal. Just to stay healthy. Then do what I have to do to be able to play to help this team win games.”