The New England Patriots coaching staff must have been thrilled about the week of practice heading into the 41-25 demolition of the Buffalo Bills because the team has announced an incredible 9 practice players of the week. They are S Nate Ebner, OT Cameron Fleming, RB D.J. Foster, ED Geneo Grissom, CB Cyrus Jones, WR Devin Lucien, LB Trevor Reilly, S Jordan Richards, and WR DeAndrew White.
#Patriots practice players of the week: Ebner, Fleming, Foster, Grissom, C. Jones, Lucien, Reilly, Richards & D. White.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 1, 2016
S Nate Ebner makes a surprise appearance on this list and there’s a chance he was representing Bills ED Lorenzo Alexander on special teams. There are few Bills that match Ebner’s profile and Alexander’s special teams prowess caught Bill Belichick’s attention.
OT Cameron Fleming has put together a quality third season as the swing tackle and he’s still helping in practice. He could have represented Bills star LT Cordy Glenn.
RB D.J. Foster receives this award for the third time and it’s possible he was portraying either RB Mike Gillislee or RB Reggie Bush in practice- or both.
ED Geneo Grissom wins the award for the second time and he could have played as ED Lorenzo Alexander on defense- or on special teams, too. Grissom also played well on the special teams unit during the game.
CB Cyrus Jones needed a boost after being a healthy scratch for the past three weeks and this award is a good way to get back in the good graces of the coaching staff. He could have played as any of the Bills cornerbacks, but my guess would be CB Nickell Robey-Coleman.
WR Devin Lucien wins his first award of the year and there are only a few members of the Bills receiving corps that lasted through the game. My guess would be that Lucien played as WR Robert Woods.
LB Trevor Reilly makes the list after just recently joining the Patriots. The Bills linebackers Zach Brown and Preston Brown are both good and Reilly could have served as either.
S Jordan Richards has earned the title for the third time this season. He could have played as Bills S Corey Graham. Unfortunately, Richards appeared to suffer an injury on one of the last plays of the game.
WR DeAndrew White has won the award for an incredible third straight week. It wouldn’t be a surprise if White was asked to play as Bills WR Justin Hunter, weeks after possibly playing as A.J. Green and Antonio Brown.
Previous Winners
Week 1: RB D.J. Foster, DB Brandon King, DB Jordan Richards, DB Vinnie Sunseri
Week 2: QB Jacoby Brissett, LB Elandon Roberts, DT Woodrow Hamilton
Week 3: TE AJ Derby
Week 5: OG Chris Barker, RB D.J. Foster, TE AJ Derby, DB Eric Rowe, DL Geneo Grissom, DB Vinnie Sunseri
Week 6: ED Trey Flowers, DT Anthony Johnson, RB Bishop Sankey, WR DeAndrew White
Week 7: DT Malcom Brown, RB Tyler Gaffney, OG Ted Karras, DB Brandon King, DB Jordan Richards, and WR DeAndrew White