Bills notebook: McCargo gets the message after healthy scratch
A lot of people were surprised to see defensive tackle John McCargo on the Buffalo Bills’ inactive list for the season opener.
The Bills claimed they needed bodies for special teams, so they could carry only three defensive tackles on the 47-man active roster. But closer inspection reveals there might have more to it.
It’s not a stretch to say that McCargo has not lived up to expectations. The 2006 first-round draft pick has shown flashes of brilliance. But a lack of consistency has kept him behind Kyle Williams, a fifth-round pick in 2006, and free agent Spencer Johnson on the depth chart.
The Bills say talent is not the issue. However, desire might be.
“It’s like we’ve said from Day One, you’ve got to really want to play,” defensive line coach Bill Kollar said. “It’s real easy to go and talk about it. But what you have to do is work and get better on the practice field and take it into the game.
“He’s got the ability. But deep inside yourself you’ve got to want to end up getting it done. You’ve got to end up doing it on the field.”
If last Sunday’s healthy scratch was intended to get McCargo’s attention, it succeeded. He acknowledged that he has to play better, and harder, for longer stretches to earn playing time.
“It definitely is a motivator,” McCargo said Thursday after practice. “I’m not going to lie; I was very disappointed about last week. But sometimes things happen that you have to use as motivation to get a chance to go out there and show what you can do.”
After an injury-shortened rookie year, McCargo appeared to turn the corner last season. He showed signs of becoming the disruptive force the Bills envisioned when they traded back into the first round to draft him.
But McCargo’s third year began poorly when he reported to the spring workouts overweight. He got himself in much better shape before training camp, but it hasn’t translated into better play on the field.
“I told him the other day, ‘You’ve got to get to the point where you show out on the practice field,’ ” Kollar said. “And I said, ‘If you get another chance to be out there you’ve got to make it where they say, ‘We’ve got to dress him. He’s playing too damn good,’ or ‘We’ve got to sit somebody else down because we can’t afford to not have the guy on the field.’ ”
The Bills won’t make any roster decisions until today or Saturday. But with temperatures in Jacksonville expected to be in the 90s by kickoff, McCargo’s chances of rejoining the rotation look good.
“I’m doing everything I can to get out there,” he said. “When you’re coming from a situation where you never had to sit out for anything when you’re healthy, it’s a hard road to go down. But you have to move on from that and be ready to take advantage of the opportunity when you get it.”
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Special teams coach Bobby April wouldn’t trade Roscoe Parrish, Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin for any return specialist in the NFL, but April is impressed with Jacksonville return ace Brian Witherspoon.
The undrafted rookie from Division II Stillman College in Alabama was one of the few bright spots for the Jaguars in their 17-10 loss at Tennessee last week. He averaged 41.3 yards on three kickoff returns, 22.5 yards on two punt returns and was the main reason the Jaguars’ average drive start was their 40-yard line.
The Jaguars’ fastest player, Witherspoon reportedly has run the 40-yard dash in under 4.3 seconds.
“He’s impressive,” April said. “They did their homework on that guy. He’s a gunner on punts, he’s good on kickoff coverage and he returns kickoffs and punts really, really well. That’s a pretty good get for a free agent. But he’s no free agent. He’s a bona fide player.”
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Left tackle Jason Peters continues to work with the first-team offense, but Jauron said he would wait until the Saturday afternoon deadline before deciding whether to add Peters to the 53-man roster. . . . Rookie tight end Derek Fine (thumb) was the only player who didn’t participate fully in practice on Thursday. Like McCargo, offensive tackle Matt Murphy (shoulder) was limited.
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