1st & Ten With Adolphus Washington

Marcell Dareus’ departure left a gaping hole at the heart of Buffalo’s defensive following his trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Following that initial shock — where Buffalo’s defense struggled greatly in losses to New Orleans, the Los Angeles Chargers and the New York Jets — things have settled down for Buffalo’s defense overall over the last month and defensive tackle Adolphus Washington has found his groove as Dareus’ replacement at defensive tackle. A 2016 third-round pick out of Ohio State, Washington had 27 tackles and one sack through Week 14 and has been solidifying himself as a solid starter for the Bills along the defensive line. Bills Digest recently caught up with Washington for his thoughts on becoming a starter and how he’s progressed over the past two seasons.

1 As the season’s progressed, we’ve seen you come along out there and earn a starting role following the trade of Marcell Dareus to the Jacksonville Jaguars. How do you feel your game has been coming along?

A: I feel like I’ve been doing good. But I’m kind of hard on myself so there’s always room for improvement. I try to rely on the coaches to find out what I need to do to get better each week and I’ve been doing that, going to Coach McDermott, Coach Frazier, Coach Bill (Teerlinck), the assistant D-line coach, and of course Coach Waufle (defensive line). I just try to go to them to see what I need to work on. I also come in early in the morning to watch film with the assistant D-line coach to get a head start on what I need to do better.

2 What are you focusing on most when it comes to your game at this point in your career?

A: I’m working on just going out there and playing hard. Everything else I can do. I’ve got to focus on playing hard and going out there and trying to make some plays. As far as technique and footwork and all of that stuff, yeah, you have to worry about that but we’re in the NFL. That stuff just kind of comes natural now. So there’s other things I have to worry about.

3 What do you focus on most when you’re that involved with film study?

A: Pretty much as soon as we get in there we first go over the installment for the day. Then we’ll watch some film either from ourselves at practice or we’ll watch film from the other team’s previous game. That’s pretty much what we do.

4 How much of an adjustment has been playing under someone like Coach Waufle? He’s known for being a pretty tough, demanding and intense defensive line coach.