Ryan Bates and the Bills offensive line has a massive challenge with Aaron Donald

ORCHARD PARK - Last week, Buffalo Bills offensive guard Ryan Bates was asked if, at some point, he was going to ask Von Miller for some pointers on how he should attempt to block the Rams’ superhuman defensive tackle, Aaron Donald.

“We haven’t really gone into super depth yet about the Rams and their stuff,” Bates said at the time, “but that’s something I’m definitely going to ask him; what he likes to do and just, I’ll take any tips I can get.”

As Bates has come to find out in the days since, Miller really had nothing to offer.

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Not that he didn’t want to help Bates and the rest of the Bills offensive line which has the massive task Thursday night of trying to contain Donald, the best defensive player in the NFL and one of the best in the history of the game.

“There is no secret, there’s nothing I could say,” Miller said with a shrug of his shoulders Sunday when the Bills began earnest preparation for the NFL Kickoff Game in Los Angeles against the defending Super Bowl champs.

“There is no weakness. I can’t sit here and say, ‘Well, if you do this …’ It’s Aaron Donald, he’s the greatest football player that I’ve ever played with. And he’s one of the greatest football players that ever played this game and that’s counting all the greats and all the football gods that have come through here. Aaron Donald is one of those.”

Miller, of course, got to see Donald up close and personal last season when he was traded to the Rams at midseason and combined with him to lead the Rams to the championship. They played 12 games together counting the playoffs, and after a couple of weeks finding his niche in Los Angeles’ defense, Miller recorded nine sacks in the last eight games, two of them in the Rams’ 23-20 Super Bowl victory over Cincinnati.

As great a pass rusher as Miller is, also one of the best in NFL history, there was no doubt playing with Donald helped unleash him.

“There’s nothing that I can say,” Miller said of speaking to the Bills’ offensive line. “I’d be setting them up for failure if I tell them like, ‘If you just do this, you know you’ll be all right.’ He’s good at everything. These guys are great, we got Josh Allen, we got great players, too, but Aaron Donald’s gonna make plays.”

Bates is well aware of this. The 25-year-old is entering his fourth season with Buffalo, but it’s the first that he’ll begin as a starter. He had been the Bills’ Swiss Army knife on the offensive line for most of his first three years, a player they could plug in at any of the five positions, and even tight end if need be.

His versatility actually worked against him because the Bills preferred to start other players to make sure that Bates would be available in case anyone got hurt during a game. When someone did get hurt last year - Ike Boettger in the game at New England - Bates took over at left guard and proved that he deserved to be a starter.

“Everyone wants that chance and fortunately at the end of last season, I got that opportunity and I like to think I made the most of it,” said Bates, who has since been switched to right guard. “And what I did last season gave me the opportunity to be where I’m at right now and in the starting role at right guard and I just want to focus on that and be the best right guard I can.”

It was an interesting offseason for Bates. He was a restricted free agent and because the Bills gave him the lowest tender of one year at $2.433 million which did not require draft pick compensation if he signed elsewhere, that allowed Bates to test the market.

The Bears really wanted him and they offered a four-year contract worth $17 million with $8.8 million guaranteed. The Bills could either match the offer sheet, or lose Bates, and they chose to match it. That meant they finally looked at him as a starter rather than as a multi-use reserve.

“It means a lot, it means so much because I wanted to stay here, I really did,” Bates said. “I have such a great relationship with a lot of the guys. It was very real, I would have absolutely gone. I’m very fortunate to (GM) Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears’ coaching staff to have the opportunity and I would have gone there and given 100% effort. But like I said I’m fortunate enough to be back here in Buffalo and be back with the boys and hopefully win a Super Bowl this year.”

Bates is part of a new starting guard tandem as 13-year veteran Rodger Saffold was signed to play left guard, joining Bates, Dion Dawkins, Mitch Morse and Spencer Brown.

They are the five men charged with protecting the Bills’ $250 million superstar, Allen, and that is going to be quite a challenge against Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, a seven-time All-Pro, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s all-decade team of the 2010’s, a prelude to where he will end up when his career is over.

“He’s one of one and I think everybody knows that,” Allen said. “Scary to watch the film of him and just understand that you’ve got to go in with a plan to block him, and everybody does it. He’s extremely specialized in taking on doubles and understanding that there’s going to be help on him, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter. He kind of gets his way for the most part.”

As coach Sean McDermott said, it will take a team effort to prevent Donald from wrecking the Bills’ offense, but Bates knows that as an interior blocker, he’s going to see more of Donald than, say, the two tackles.

“He’s a hell of a player,” Bates said. “I just got to go out there and do what I’ve been coached to do. We’ve been having a hell of a camp and I’m learning a lot of things under Aaron Kromer. I just have to go out there and do what we do. Our five against their four or whatever it is, we’re gonna go out there and ball.”

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 vs Rams: Can Ryan Bates, offensive line handle Aaron Donald?