Bills DC Bobby Babich reflects on his first play-calling opportunity

Though he was generally pleased with his performance, Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich is viewing his first play-calling effort as a learning experience.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 14, 2024

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

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The Buffalo Bills commenced their 2024 preseason slate this past Saturday in a contest that featured no shortage of players taking their first NFL snaps; in one instance, an individual was taking his first-ever reps in an organized football game.

There was also a first unfolding in the coaches' booth, as Buffalo defensive coordinator Bobby Babich called plays for the first time in the team’s 33-6 loss. The Bills promoted Babich, a long-time position coach within the organization, to defensive coordinator in the offseason to prevent him from being poached by one of several inquiring teams; head coach Sean McDermott has still not decided whether he or Babich will call defensive plays in the regular season, but he allowed the first-year coordinator to helm the unit in the preseason opener.

McDermott was generally complimentary of Babich’s first effort, telling reporters that he did a “really good job in a lot of areas” despite the scoreline. Babich himself reflected on his first go at play-calling on Wednesday morning, saying that he was generally pleased but that it was an overall learning experience.

“I thought it was good, but like I said, there’s some things that I look at that I’m like, ‘Okay, maybe I do this a little bit different, maybe I do this a little bit different,’” Babich said. “Bounce some things off of Sean, like I talk about all the time. I thought the operation piece went smooth as far as what we wanted to get accomplished, obviously there’s things that have to improve all the time. You learn every time you do something new. You learn something new, you learn something new, you learn something new.

“Thought it went well, there are a couple of things we wanted to accomplish as far as going into this game and getting certain things communicated [and] executed. I thought things went pretty smooth with some things that I can learn from and grow from.”

McDermott has yet to come to a final decision on this year’s defensive play-caller, but it looks as though he’d like to hand the responsibility over to his coordinator. He’ll have to make–-and announce—his decision sooner rather than later, as Buffalo kicks off its 2024 regular season on September 8.

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