As the cart came onto the field last Saturday afternoon for the injured Zack Moss, Bills head coach Sean McDermott had a message for Devin Singletary.
"He just told me I'm ready for this moment," Singletary said. "I worked for it. Everyone believes in me. You believe in yourself. Just handle the business. That's all it is."
"Devin's a guy that's worked extremely hard over the course of his career, even before he got to the NFL," McDermott said. "He's no stranger to hard work and he's no stranger to having to carry the load. I know this team is 100% confident in Devin Singletary."
With Moss out the remainder of the postseason with an ankle injury, all signs point to Singletary needing to now carry the load.
It is something that has not been the case to this point. In the regular season, Singletary ran for 687 yards and two touchdowns on 156 attempts. That averaged out to 42.9 yards per game on 9.8 attempts. This coming off a rookie season where Singletary became more involved down the stretch, finishing with 775 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 151 attempts over 12 games. His 5.1 yards per carry in 2019 was 5th best in the NFL.
Part of the reason for a dip in production this year has been a dip in involvement, starting with the addition of Moss, who had more carries then Singletary in 5 of the final 8 games of the regular season.
"It comes with the game," Singletary said. "Every year is different. Every week is different. It don't matter how many opportunities, if it's a lot or it's a little, you got to be ready to take advantage of them. That's just been my mindset all year."
McDermott sees it more as circumstantial than an indictment on Singletary's performance.
"His role to me has been pretty consistent," McDermott said. "Sometimes the ebbs and flows of a game cause the load of who gets the carries to fluctuate a little bit game to game or week to week. So his role has always been the same to us and our confidence in Motor's always been very high."
Of course there is the even more obvious reason for Singletary, and the Bills run game in general, taking a back seat this season.
"Our offense changed," tackle Dion Dawkins said. "We got guys here that Josh [Allen] can throw that ball to. That's just what happens. His role is still up here. Just because he doesn't have 2,000 yards rushing does not mean that he's not having a great year. He's been doing a great job in picking up blitz, which is helping the offensive line. He's doing a great job of getting the quarterback's check downs. He's doing a good job of doing his role. That's just what comes with new additions and new pieces to the puzzle."
The other running backs in the Bills puzzle without Moss are T.J. Yeldon, Antonio Williams, and Devonta Freeman.
McDermott announced Thursday that Yeldon will take Moss' spot on game day.
Williams flashed in his first career game during the Bills regular season finale, rushing for 63 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries against the Dolphins. Still, whether or not he is elevated from the practice squad for Saturday night has yet to be determined.
Then there is Freeman, the former 2-time Pro Bowl back with the Falcons who McDermott used to go against regularly when the Panthers defensive coordinator. He too sits on the practice squad and is trying to learn the playbook quickly after signing with the team earlier this week.
That leaves whatever hand-offs the Bills do choose to run likely landing in Singletary's arms.
"It's a great opportunity," Singletary said. "We're going to see how it plays out. Could be getting more of the workload. I'm built for it. I'm ready for it. I know the team has confidence in me. I got confidence in me. Whatever way I can getting the workload to help the team win, that's what I'm going to do."
The Ravens run defense ranks 8th in the NFL by allowing 108.8 yards per game. However, they sit 22nd in the league by allowing 4.55 yards per rush.
Last week they held rushing champion Derrick Henry to a season-low 40 yards on 18 attempts. Henry's previous low was 57 yards on 19 carries agains the Bills in week 5.
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January 15, 2021 at 04:57AM
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Singletary Ready to Shoulder Load Again - Spectrum News
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