Posted by Chris Brown on October 4, 2016 – 2:35 pm

Bills LB Brandon Spikes hasn’t seen a lot of playing time on defense, due in part to the stellar play of Preston and Zach Brown at the inside linebacker positions. But head coach Rex Ryan and his defensive staff have been trying to find ways to get him on the field here and there.

Knowing that if they want to have Lorenzo Alexander available to them for all 16 games in light of his eye-opening production on defense (4 sacks in first 4 games) they can’t play him 70-80 plays a game (he also plays on special teams), they’ve used Lerentee McCray as a rotational OLB for both Alexander and Jerry Hughes.

On obvious run downs, they’ve also sprinkled Spikes in at OLB to help set the edge in the run front. Spikes is a bit stouter than Alexander at the point of attack, and played up on the line a good deal back in his college days at Florida so it’s not a foreign role for him.

Ryan knows Spikes is respected leader in the locker room, so he’s trying to find ways to get him involved in the game plan week to week.

“We just love his temperament and the type of player he is,” Ryan said. “He’s a physical, downhill player. We’re just trying to get our best players on the field. So if there’s a role for that then that’s where we’re going to play him. The two inside guys are playing so well right now that it’s hard to get Spikes or (Ramon) Humber in there, but we’re trying to find snaps for them. Spikes has some leadership to him as well and he builds people up. He elevates other people’s games, so you try to find a role for him every week.”

Tags: Brandon Spikes Posted in Inside the Bills