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Pittsford, N.Y. —
When the Buffalo Bills placed linebacker Danny Batten on injured reserve last year, it was a frustrating feeling for the rookie. A torn labrum in training camp ended his first year in the National Football League.
“To this day, I think about the feeling of watching the guys I came in with make names for themselves, get acclimated to the NFL and I’m sitting on the sideline,” Batten said. “It was definitely a terrible feeling and I never want to feel that again.”
The South Dakota State product wasn’t alone in having a shortened rookie year. Wide receiver Marcus Easley missed the season after suffering a knee injury in training camp.
Both Bills are competing for jobs at crowded positions this summer at St. John Fisher College.
Buffalo selected Easley in the fourth round of the 2010 draft after a productive career at Connecticut. At 6-feet, 3-inches tall, the Bills saw Easley as a possession receiver, who could be a target in the red zone. But, the receiver’s knee buckled after he got caught in the turf while running a route early in camp.
“When surgery happened, a couple of days later I was back rehabbing,” Easley said. “A month or so afterwards, I was back up and running.”
Batten, the team’s sixth-round pick, was supposed to be part of the Bills transition to the 3-4 defense, before he dislocated his shoulder twice during one practice.
Both players stayed around the team while rehabbing. They couldn’t travel with the team, but they were involved with meetings and workouts. The players had the option to go home, but both wanted to be around their teammates.
Easley and Batten said they learned a lot about Buffalo’s offense and defense.
“I told (General Manager) Buddy Nix I was going to take this year as if I had played and I was going to use the knowledge toward this year,” Batten said. “This year it’s a night and day difference from where I was last year.”
The lack of organized team activities due to the lockout kept the players off Buffalo’s practice field a few extra months, but Easley said informal workouts helped him develop some chemistry with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
In the first training camp practice Saturday, Easley tweaked his knee during a drill. The injury kept him from participating Sunday, but Easley said it’s just a minor, day-to-day injury.
When the Buffalo Bills placed linebacker Danny Batten on injured reserve last year, it was a frustrating feeling for the rookie. A torn labrum in training camp ended his first year in the National Football League.
“To this day, I think about the feeling of watching the guys I came in with make names for themselves, get acclimated to the NFL and I’m sitting on the sideline,” Batten said. “It was definitely a terrible feeling and I never want to feel that again.”
The South Dakota State product wasn’t alone in having a shortened rookie year. Wide receiver Marcus Easley missed the season after suffering a knee injury in training camp.
Both Bills are competing for jobs at crowded positions this summer at St. John Fisher College.
Buffalo selected Easley in the fourth round of the 2010 draft after a productive career at Connecticut. At 6-feet, 3-inches tall, the Bills saw Easley as a possession receiver, who could be a target in the red zone. But, the receiver’s knee buckled after he got caught in the turf while running a route early in camp.
“When surgery happened, a couple of days later I was back rehabbing,” Easley said. “A month or so afterwards, I was back up and running.”
Batten, the team’s sixth-round pick, was supposed to be part of the Bills transition to the 3-4 defense, before he dislocated his shoulder twice during one practice.
Both players stayed around the team while rehabbing. They couldn’t travel with the team, but they were involved with meetings and workouts. The players had the option to go home, but both wanted to be around their teammates.
Easley and Batten said they learned a lot about Buffalo’s offense and defense.
“I told (General Manager) Buddy Nix I was going to take this year as if I had played and I was going to use the knowledge toward this year,” Batten said. “This year it’s a night and day difference from where I was last year.”
The lack of organized team activities due to the lockout kept the players off Buffalo’s practice field a few extra months, but Easley said informal workouts helped him develop some chemistry with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
In the first training camp practice Saturday, Easley tweaked his knee during a drill. The injury kept him from participating Sunday, but Easley said it’s just a minor, day-to-day injury.
With the top receiver spots secured by Lee Evans, Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish, Easley is competing for a job against David Nelson, Kamar Aiken, Paul Hubbard, Felton Huggins, Donald Jones and Naaman Roosevelt. Batten is battling with Shawne Merriman, Antonio Coleman, Chris Kelsay, Aaron Maybin, Arthur Moats and Reggie Torbor.
While the two learned a lot last year, they know they still have much to prove on the field.
“My understanding of the defense has grown as if I were a second-year player,” Batten said. “But, have I proved myself? Absolutely not. I’m very much still a rookie as far as experience goes.”
