Bills news: Still no punter, Poyer says he's ready for opener as roster decisions near

Jordan Poyer was still wearing the red non-contact jersey in practice Monday, but there’s no doubt in the All-Pro Buffalo Bills safety’s mind that he’ll be ready to play in the season opener Sept. 8 in Los Angeles.

“I expect to be out there, as long as there’s no setbacks,” Poyer said. “It feels very good right now, just continue to work every single day to try to get to 100% for the first game. It felt good to be back out there these last couple days with the guys and playing football.”

Poyer suffered a hyperextended elbow early in the St. John Fisher University portion of training camp and has been slowly working his way back, first with the strength and conditioning staff and now joining his teammates in the main portion of practice.

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“Yeah, it was pretty scary,” Poyer said in recalling when the injury happened. “I really wasn’t sure until I got the MRI results where it was, just kind of nervous all the way up until then and just hoping it wasn’t too serious. Got the results and saw that I was gonna be able to recover from it so I was excited about it.”

Although he hasn’t ramped up completely in practice, he thinks he’ll be able to do so when the Bills begin their earnest preparation for the Rams starting Sunday.

“We’ve got a week and a half or so, I feel good right now, feel in shape, I feel like I haven’t missed a beat, just missed some training camp. Good to get back early and get my feet back on the ground playing football and communicating with the guys.”

Of course, before Poyer got hurt, the big question surrounding him was the lack of a contract extension offer from the Bills, which still hasn’t happened. He is heading into the last year of his current deal and he’s looking not only for more money, but to be able to continue playing in Buffalo.

“I’m gonna leave that up to them upstairs,” he said. “I’m a ballplayer, that’s what I do, that’s what my business is and I’m gonna leave the rest up to them to figure out and my (agent) to figure out.

“I’m here, I want to continue to play my best football here in Buffalo for as long as I can, however long that may be, but like I said I’m here with the guys right now and ready to attack the season.”

Here’s what else that was going on at One Bills Drive Monday:

Buffalo Bills still on the hunt for a punter

With Matt Araiza and Matt Haack no longer on the team, the Bills do not have a punter at the moment. They reportedly brought in several for workouts over the weekend, but as of Monday afternoon none have been signed.

An interesting name hit the waiver wire Monday, though, and it could be worth watching. Brett Kern, a native of nearby Grand Island, was waived by the Titans, ending his 13-year tenure in Tennessee where he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and a one-time All-Pro.

More:These punters are options for the Buffalo Bills after releasing Matt Araiza

Kern, now 36, played collegiately at Toledo and he entered the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent with Denver. The Broncos cut him midway through that season, Tennessee signed him, and he’d been there ever since.

The one roadblock to signing Kern could be salary as his cap number this season would have been $2.75 million. It’s unlikely he’d command that high of a salary now, but the Bills have only about $6.9 million available in cap space, and that was only because last week they reworked the contract of offensive tackle Dion Dawkins which created about $5.6 million in room.

That money was supposed to be used in case of roster emergencies during the year, but I guess cutting your punter less than two weeks before the start of the season qualifies as a roster emergency.

More:Matt Araiza has not been charged with a crime, but he has already admitted to one

Also, as of Tuesday, all of the 53-man roster plus any players on injured reserve and those who get signed to the practice squad will count against the salary cap. Right now, only the top 51 salaries do, so you have to factor in several million that will be added, leaving less money if Kern wants more.

Kern is the all-time Titans era (since 1999) leader in games played at 197. Last season he ranked 17th in the league in net punting average at 40.4. By comparison, Haack ranked 27th at 38.4. Kern’s average hang time was not great, 27th at 4.10 seconds, but Haack was 29th at 4.09.

But hang time isn’t everything if you have good coverage units, which both the Bills and Titans do. Last year, Haack had the second-fewest percentage of punts returned at 32.7 while Kern ranked ninth at 38.3.

“I’m just thankful for whatever happens,” Kern told reporters in Tennessee Sunday, before he was released. “If I’m here, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to roll. And if I’m not, I’m beyond blessed with the years that I’ve been here and the friendships that I’ve made, the brothers that I have for the rest of my life. So, I’m sure thankful for that.”

Buffalo Bills roster starting to take shape

Rosters must be reduced to 53 players by Tuesday at 4 p.m., but as they have done in past years, the Bills have started to do the trimming piecemeal with the release of six players Monday morning. The reason is because it opens up more reps for other players in the last two practice as the final determinations are made.

More:Bills 53-man roster projection holds off on filling the punter position

Offensive linemen Jacob Capra and Tanner Owen, wide receiver Neil Pau’u, defensive end Daniel Joseph, and defensive backs Jordan Miller and Josh Thomas were all released before the Bills took the field for Monday’s practice. There were no surprises there.

With these moves, coupled with the release of Araiza Saturday, the Bills are down to 73 players.

Quintin Morris pulled up limping in practice

The tight end who has had a solid training camp and played well enough in the preseason games to push the roster decision about the tight end position down to the wire, suffered some type of injury to his right leg early in practice.

Morris was running an innocuous pass pattern not even at full speed, and as Matt Barkley threw the ball his way, Morris didn’t even try to catch it as the ball soared over head because he pulled up.

Coach Sean McDermott will not be speaking to the media until Sunday, so there was no post-practice injury update. Speculating on the severity is pointless, but it could determine Morris’ status.

He was in a tight battle with O.J. Howard and Tommy Sweeney to be a backup to Dawson Knox. If the Bills were only going to keep three tight ends, one was going to be released. Now, it could be that Morris was going to be the one getting cut, and if so, the Bills probably would want to get him back on the practice squad.

But if Morris’ injury is significant enough to sideline him for any length of time, it perhaps means the Bills put him on injured reserve, and if they do that before the roster deadline, it would mean he’s out for the season.

That wouldn’t be the worst thing, though, if they believe he needs more development time because IR means he stays with the Bills until next year.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills news: Still no punter, Poyer ready as roster decisions near