NFL
Bills' safeties making strides at training camp
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

Buffalo Bills strong safety Donte Whitner, left, falls behind the play as running back Anthony Thomas breaks through the defense during training camp at St. John Fisher College. Photo by Patrick McPartland

Much has changed for Buffalo's last line of defense.

Safeties Donte Whitner and Ko Simpson entered training camp a year ago, fresh out of college and still holding those overwhelmed looks on their faces. But one year later, the two are back as veteran starters, looking to take more of a leadership role on the defense.

"You just come in here knowing what to expect," Simpson said of entering this year's training camp. "Coming in your rookie year, you don't know what's going on. Coming in this year, you're more prepared and you got ahead trying to help this team make plays."

Training camp kicked off for the Bills two weeks ago at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, and the tandem of Whitner and Simpson quickly became a focal point.

Whitner, Buffalo's first-round draft pick in 2006, immediately found his way into the starting lineup for Week One, but Simpson worked his way onto the field halfway through the season. Now they're the incumbents, and they have several young players looking to steal away those coveted staring positions. Jim Leonard, Trevor Hooper and John Corto, George Wilson and John Wendling are all in the mix at safety, making Whitner and Simpson play their best.

"Starter or no starter, you still have to come in here and work hard," Simpson said. "You can lose your job easily, so you got to come here and push everyday."

The two combined to be a strong defensive backfield last year. Whitner finished second on the team with 105 tackles. Simpson was fourth with 77. The pair also combined for three interceptions. This year, the Bills have expectations for the tandem, following last year's promising showing.

"We're really looking forward to seeing them," head coach Dick Jauron said. "They did really well last year. They improved on a game-by-game basis, but we'll just have to wait and see, because you don't know how good they're going to be. There is no way to tell what teams will or won't do if things had been different on the field. There are really not a lot of reasons for us to speculate because it's gone. I just believe they're going to get better, and let's face it, we all have to get better if we're going to consistently win."

Both Whitner and Simpson have looked good in training camp thus far and will both try to make an impact when the Bills travel to New Orleans for Friday's first preseason game against the Saints. The confidence wasn't exactly lacking last year, but you can see more of it on the players' faces in their second year.

"I think we're coming along very good from last year," Simpson said. "Last year, we didn't know what to expect. We didn't know what we were doing. We were learning on the run. This year, this is more laid back. We're just trying to make plays. We're talking to each more."

Talking to each other is key for the safeties and these two seem to have that down. They set themselves up before each play during drills and check with each other on assignments and coverage. One wrong step and they could see one of Buffalo's many speedy receivers cruising past them on the way to the end zone.

"The safeties got to talk," Simpson said. "You got to know where each other is on the field. You got to know where he is before the play even starts. That's what we're trying to get down in this training camp."

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com