McGee gets better at covering the best
Bills cornerback takes on top receivers
Buffalo Bills cornerback Terrence McGee has made a big comeback from his injury-induced struggles in Miami five weeks ago.
McGee had his fourth straight strong game in the Bills’ win over Kansas City on Sunday.
Each of the past three weeks the Bills have matched McGee with the opposition’s top receiver. On Nov. 9, McGee held New England star Randy Moss to five catches for 53 yards. On Nov. 17, he contained Braylon Edwards of the Browns. Edwards had eight catches for 104 yards (a couple of those were not on McGee) but Mc- Gee made some crucial coverage plays in the fourth quarter to keep the Bills alive. In Kansas City, McGee held top receiver Dwayne Bowe to three catches for 58 yards.
“We’ve matched him up on the top guys and he’s responded well,” Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “He had a poor performance against Miami [on Oct. 26] but he’s come back strong after that. I thought he was outstanding in New England. He was outstanding against Cleveland. He had another strong game this week.”
McGee probably came back a week too soon in Miami, where a sprained knee that caused him to miss the previous two games clearly hindered him in a 25-16 defeat.
“I feel pretty close to 100 percent as far as my knee goes,” McGee said Wednesday. “It’s a long season and everybody’s body starts to wear down. But my knee feels good. I’m playing well, so I’m close to where I want to be.”
McGee has shown exceptional technique on deep balls of late. He had Moss blanketed on two long passes that fell incomplete, one a perfect throw that McGee broke up with his right hand.
McGee covered Edwards on four key fourth-quarter incompletions, three of them on third downs, to help the Bills get in position for a potential game-winning field goal at the end. The best textbook coverage was on a second-and-7 go pattern 35 yards down the right sideline. The 5-foot-9 McGee, giving up 6 inches to Edwards, used his closing speed to catch up with the receiver and timed his jump perfectly, boxing out Edwards and preventing him from being able to reach over and make the grab.
“I thought it was out the gate [for a touchdown],” Fewell said. “Terrence just closed to the near hip and he got his head around and made the play. He’s been doing those things for us the last three weeks.”
The Bills normally don’t match up with the opposition’s top receiver. McGee has played the left side of the field for most of his six seasons in Buffalo.
“We did it a little bit with Nate Clements,” Fewell said, referring to the former Bill who will come to town this Sunday with San Francisco. “We did it his last year here [2006], and Nate didn’t give up a touchdown pass his last year.
“We felt like Terrence could take that challenge against some of the better receivers in the league.”
McGee is pretty stoic on and off the field.
“He never says a word, doesn’t say a peep,” Fewell said. “You don’t know if he enjoys the challenge or not when you say it to him because he doesn’t respond very much. But he just goes out every day and works and gets it done.”
“It’s hard but at the same time that’s what you want as a corner,” McGee said of following the No. 1 receiver all game. “If you really go out and play a good game, you want to be put in that situation. You want to put a name out there for yourself. It gives you an opportunity. It also gives you an opportunity to get beat.”
McGee said he now is accustomed to lining up on the right side, when that’s necessary.
“It’s been a little tough because I’m so used to the left,” he said. “When I get on the right it’s different. You feel like you’re a left-handed batter batting right. But as the game goes on you don’t even notice it. You notice it more in practice. In the game, you just focus on the receivers.”
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