Buffalo Bills DT Marcell Dareus Key To Bills Playoff Hopes

Pittsford N.Y. - Last summer, the Buffalo Bills’ rookies came into training camp without going through mini camps or organized team activities due to the league lockout. They were thrown into the playbook as the team hurried to get ready for the regular season.
Second-year players Marcell Dareus and Aaron Williams said they feel a lot different this time around.
“I’ve got a lot more under my belt,” Dareus said. “I’m a lot more comfortable than I was last year.”
The Bills are expecting both players to make strong contributions to the defense in 2012.
Dareus, Buffalo’s first-round draft pick in 2011, made a big impact as a rookie and led the team in sacks with 5.5. What’s more impressive is the defensive lineman said he was double teamed on every play.
The Bills brought in free agent defensive ends Mario Williams and Mark Anderson to bring some pressure of the edge and defensive tackle Kyle Williams is healthy. Dareus thinks he’ll still face some double teams, but expects it won’t happen as much.
“They can’t double team all of us,” Dareus said with a big smile.
Dareus started out playing end in the 3-4 defense last year, but moved inside to play nose tackle midway through the season. The former Alabama star said he wants to be “lighter, leaner, quicker and more explosive” as the team shifts to a 4-3 this year.
“A lot of people look at me as a big man that can hustle,” Dareus said. “I want to be more of a hustle player. I want to lose the big man title.”
Williams got his first taste of National Football League action quicker than he expected. Veteran cornerback Terrence McGee suffered an injury on the second play of the opener against Kansas City and Williams was sent in. Two weeks later, he received his first start against New England and found himself matched up with Wes Welker.
In that New England game, Williams suffered a chest injury which caused him to miss the next six games.
“As a rookie, you never want to get off that field, you never want to have an injury,” Williams said. “You want to prove yourself the first year. I was kind of frustrated why all of the sudden I got hurt. You can’t do anything about it, you’ve just got to roll with it.”
Williams recorded his first interception against Denver when he picked off Tim Tebow.
Despite having a poor pass rush in 2011 the Bills still racked up 20 interceptions, good enough to rank sixth in the league. The improved defensive line should help Williams and his fellow defensive backs make more plays this year.
“The defensive line is going to do a great job of getting pressure on the quarterback, but at the same time we still got to be back there and cover the receivers,” Williams said.