Bills' Johnson lending a hand on D-line
Published: November 24, 2009, 9:28 pm
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Spencer Johnson's name may not jump off the stat sheet from Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but his impact was certainly felt by interim Bills coach Perry Fewell.
"Spencer Johnson was awesome," Fewell said. "We didn't have very many [defensive] tackles at one point in the football game and Spencer played lights out."
Johnson finished with three solo tackles, a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hit and a fumble recovery. He saw extended action because starter Marcus Stroud missed the game with a knee injury and backup John McCargo suffered a strained calf during the game.
Johnson and fellow tackle Kyle Williams, who was playing his first game since missing two with a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL), combined to help the Bills hold Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew to 66 yards on 25 carries, an average of just 2.5 yards per rush. As a team, the Jaguars — who entered the game sixth in the NFL in rushing — ran for 102 yards, the lowest total the Bills have allowed since a Week Two win over Tampa Bay.
"I can't tell you how proud I was of those guys that just stayed in the trenches and fought and slugged it out with that offensive line," Fewell said of Johnson and Williams.
The Bills generally use a rotation among their four defensive tackles in an effort to keep them fresh, so playing two men down at times can be a challenge, especially on a team that predominantly loses the time-of-possession battle.
"I think we did pretty well, considering the circumstances," Johnson said. "We were down in numbers, but we had a good week of practice where we focused on stopping the run. I think that translated to the game."
Johnson, 27, entered the NFL in 2004 as an undrafted free agent with Minnesota. He spent four years with the Vikings before signing with the Bills last season. He's proved to be a quality depth signing.
In his first year with the Bills, he played in all 16 games and made 31 tackles. So far this year, he's made 31 tackles in 10 games.
"I knew the possibility [to see extended action] would be there when Marcus went down, just like when Kyle went down," Johnson said. "So I had to step up and be ready."
Johnson's fourth start of the season could come Sunday when Miami visits. An update is expected on Stroud's injury today, while McCargo is listed as day to day.
The Bills made a move Tuesday to replace rookie guard Eric Wood, signing veteran Kendall Simmons.
Wood was placed on injured reserve after he suffered a horrific broken leg Sunday against Jacksonville. Fellow guard Seth McKinney was also lost for the season due to a knee injury, so the Bills had an immediate need at the position.
Simmons, 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds, brings plenty of veteran experience to the Bills. The former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2002 has started 80 games in his career.
Simmons, 30, has seen his career derailed by injuries. He was released by the Steelers in February after an Achilles injury cost him the final 12 games of the 2008 season.
He also missed all of 2004 with a knee injury, but returned in 2005 and started all 16 games for the Steelers in that Super Bowl championship season. Simmons then started all 30 games in which he played over the next two seasons.
Simmons signed with New England a week before the season started, but appeared in just one game on special teams before being released Nov. 6.
The Bills on Wednesday made McKinney their 14th player on the injured reserve list. The team promoted center/guard Christian Gaddis from the practice squad.
Another high-profile candidate has appeared to take himself out of the running for the Bills' coaching job. Marty Schottenheimer, who played linebacker for the Bills from 1965 to 1968, sounded reluctant to return to coaching when speaking with Sirius NFL Radio's Red Zone show Tuesday.
"It's nice to think that people would consider you, but the reality of it is, is that after 30 great years, I'm really not going to go back down that road again," he said.
Schottenheimer, 66, last coached in the NFL in 2006, when he led San Diego to a 14-2 record, but was fired after losing the team's first playoff game. For his career, he has a 200-126-1 record in 21 seasons with four different teams.
Schottenheimer said "there's nothing there" when referring to recent reports he would be a candidate for the job.
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