Getty Star Lotulelei celebrates a play in a game against the Miami Dolphins.
The Buffalo Bills have waited for more than a year to get one of their key defensive players back on the field, and it now appears they will still have a bit longer to wait.
As the team started voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week, head coach Sean McDermott noted the absence of one player who has been away from the team for more than a year. There were a number of players on both sides of the ball absent as the team came back to prepare for a campaign to follow-up their trip to the AFC Championship game.
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Bills Missing Key Player
While there were close to 70 players in attendance as the Bills started OTAs, McDermott pointed out a returning defensive anchor who had not yet shown up — Star Lotulelei. As Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 noted, McDermott told reporters about the absence of the defensive tackle, who opted out of the 2020 season due to fears of contracting COVID-19.
There had been some speculation this offseason that Lotulelei could be considering retirement, but he announced that he planned to return. He had been a key anchor of the Bills defense through his first two seasons, racking up 36 tackles with two sacks and an interception. More importantly, he often occupied two blockers in the middle to free up edge rushers.
As USA Today’s Bills Wire had noted when Lotulelei first decided to opt out last year, his impact went far beyond the stat sheet.
“The 30-year-old lineman hasn’t had the sexiest job while with the Bills which earn stats, but his teammates and coaches often tout him as an unselfish player on the field in terms of his role,” the report noted. “Lotulelei’s job in the middle of the D-line is to take up blockers while his teammates get after the quarterback or rusher.”
Others Absent as Bills Start OTAs
Lotulelei is not the only member of the Bills skipping out on the voluntary workouts. As ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques noted, there were a number of players on both sides of the ball who were absent, including All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs and new addition Emmanuel Sanders.
Bills OTAs just wrapped for the day. Players who weren’t there include:
Stefon Diggs
Star Lotulelei
Emmanuel Sanders
Daryl Williams
Vernon Butler
Taiwan Jones
Mario Addison
Jerry Hughes
Mitch Morse
The Bills are in something of a holding pattern for offseason activities, waiting to hear from the league whether they will be able to return to St. John Fisher College outside of Rochester, the home of training camp up until last season, when COVID-19 restrictions kept them in Buffalo. McDermott also said the team is waiting to learn more about how practices and other activities will play out, including what restrictions could remain in place.
“There’s a lot of layers on that as you’d expect with the Covid situation and all the protocols,” McDermott said, via Chuck Pollock of the Olean Times Herald.
“We are in communication with St. John Fisher and trying to see what can be worked out ,” McDermott added. “Our operations staff is hard at work trying to figure all that out. I’m sure we’ll have a decision soon.”
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