Buffalo Bills news: Stefon Diggs' attitude is no worry, Damar Hamlin’s return unknown

INDIANAPOLIS - Wide receiver Gabe Davis might be the most polarizing player on the Buffalo Bills offense, especially right now with NFL Draft season upon us and voluble speculation flying around that general manager Brandon Beane will be using his first-round pick on a receiver.

Some believe Davis’ three-year production qualifies him as a steal as a fourth-round draft pick in 2020, while others believe that after his remarkable performance against the Chiefs in the 2021 playoffs, it was disappointing that he didn’t build on that and take a big step forward in 2022.

“Coming off that Kansas City game the year before, people probably had some unrealistic expectations,” Beane said at the NFL Scouting Combine Tuesday.

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There was no doubt about, but was it really warranted?

Here’s the thing about Davis: After not facing elite competition in college playing for Central Florida, he came to Buffalo and did a nice job assimilating to the NFL in his first two seasons, especially in a secondary role amid a veteran receiving corps that at various times included Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.

The calculus then changed when Davis erupted with eight catches for 201 yards and an NFL playoff record four touchdowns in the 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs.

Suddenly, fantasy football owners catapulted Davis to the top of their draft lists for 2022, but all that outburst against the Chiefs did was set him up for a fall because trying to live up to that standard in his first season as Buffalo’s full-time No. 2 starter was going to be impossible.

Sure enough, while Davis set career highs with 48 catches for 836 yards and also caught seven TDs, he struggled with consistency, dropped too many passes, and wasn’t competitive enough on contested balls.

Both Beane and coach Sean McDermott said Tuesday that the high ankle sprain Davis suffered in practice leading up to the Week 2 home opener against Tennessee was partially to blame for some of his struggles.

“Not to make excuses, but it definitely bothered him,” Beane said. “You can just watch the film when he was coming out of his cuts, he was taking an extra step which allowed that defender to stay attached to him as well. He had a few drops that he definitely wants back, but I’ve got a lot of faith in Gabe.”

Said McDermott: “I thought Gabe had a good year, I really did. It didn’t get off to a great start; there were some turbulent times maybe in the front third of the season. But the thing I thought he handled extremely well was that adversity and he came back.”

Now, as he heads into the final season of his four-year rookie contract, the Bills need to not only upgrade the wide receiver room for 2023, but prepare for the possibility of Davis leaving in free agency before 2024.

No one is worried about Stefon Diggs’ attitude

There’s been a lot made about Diggs’ behavior following the loss to the Bengals, how he seemed really frustrated not only with the loss, but how he was used in that game. Then he spent part of Super Bowl week fanning flames about the possibility that he would look to get out of Buffalo sooner rather than later, maybe even join the Cowboys to play with his brother Trevon.

Count Beane and McDermott as two people not worried about that happening.

“Stef’s a competitor, we know that,” Beane said. “He’s not going to hide his feelings, and he wants to win. It’s about winning.

“You guys saw him upset after the Cincinnati loss. Everybody shows it in different ways and if we had won that game and he only caught four balls, he wouldn’t have been storming out of there. Stef’s a competitor and I’ll take competitors all day long.”

McDermott pointed out that one of the toughest things for players to cope with is seeing a season end abruptly, especially one like this where the Bills really believed that they were going to win the Super Bowl.

“I love Stef,” McDermott said. “The season gets long and you’re very competitive, and then all of a sudden it ends and you’re emotional. And so some of that comes up, but when you have time to get away a little bit and gain a little perspective on things, it’s healthy for you. I know it is for me. I know we’re a better team with Stef with us and we look forward to having him back here.”

Offensive coaching staff overcame obstacles

The performance of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey has been a topic of conversation, not only now but even while he was going through his first season in that position. McDermott remains committed to him, and he made the point on Tuesday that some of the criticism about Dorsey, and the offense in general, is a bit misguided.

“I thought he did a really good job,” McDermott said. “And you’ve got to remember we had a new offensive coordinator, a new O-line coach (Aaron Kromer)) and a new quarterback coach (Joe Brady), all in one season, and you go 13-3. That’s hard to do.”

McDermott was asked specifically about Kromer who caught some heat because the line showed no tangible improvement over how it played for the previous O-line coach, Bobby Johnson.

“I would say, again, you try to zoom out, look at it big picture wise from start to finish, not just one game, and you say, ‘Hey there’s times where I thought we did a really good job of protecting Josh and running the football,’” McDermott said. “But there was also some times when I felt like our quarterback got affected a little bit too early. So those are things that we have to continue to adjust and address moving forward.”

Damar Hamlin’s return still unknown

The safety is recovering nicely from his cardiac arrest, and he’s also having a pretty good time with his new celebrity.

“Other than taking the world tour,” Beane said with a smile when asked what he knows about Hamlin’s current condition. “I’ve seen him on a few basketball games and other spots. He’s America’s guest right now. But Damar is doing great and I’m glad we’re all able to smile about his situation.”

Still, the road back to playing football will be long and winding and Beane can’t say with any certainty what his availability might be in 2023.

“He’s seen several specialists since our season has ended; that’s not done,” Beane said. “I think he’s got two or three more that he’s got to see in various parts of the country. We’ve had one or two guys traveling with him to see these specialists because it will be a decision for Damar, but it’ll also be a decision for us.

“We want to make sure that we’re hearing everything, assuming he gets full clearance. I know that’s his end game to continue playing. We want to make sure that we’re all in sync.”

Beane said if Hamlin is eventually given the thumbs up, “and he feels he’s ready to do it, that would be another big smile of a story, not that he’s just got his life back, but he would have his football career back and have an opportunity to go back out there and play.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills news, notes: Diggs' attitude is no worry, Hamlin’s return unknown