By Jay Skurski
ORCHARD PARK — There’s no choice in the matter for Donte Whitner.
On a Buffalo Bills roster besieged by injuries and inexperience, the second-year safety has been forced into a leadership role. And that’s completely fine by him.
“I’m going to make the best out of this,” Whitner said. “Even though we lost some guys, I have faith in the guys coming in.”
Those guys would be safety Jim Leonhard and cornerback Ashton Youboty, both of whom will make their second career starts today against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That means other than cornerback Terrence McGee, Whitner is the senior member of the Bills’ secondary.
Whitner, who hits with an extra “pop” most players don’t have, noticed a difference from his rookie season last Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
“Last year I was where I was supposed to be maybe 85 percent of the time. With this game (against the Broncos), I just felt a lot more comfortable knowing things before the snap. I felt like I played pretty well, but we have to come out with the win,” he said.
Whitner finished with nine tackles against the Broncos, including one for a loss. That total was tied for third on the team, behind Leonhard and rookie linebacker Paul Posluszny.
As the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, it’s clear the Bills have high expectations for the Ohio State product. Perhaps that’s why defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said “yes and no” when asked if he thought Whitner performed well in the season opener.
“Yes since he played hard,” Fewell said. “I thought he laid it on the line. As the same time, there’s still some things that we feel like he’s got to do better.”
In going against the Steelers today, Whitner will have an opportunity to watch one of the game’s best safeties, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu, on a first-hand basis. Whitner said he keeps tabs on players like Polamalu, Philadelphia’s Brian Dawkins and Arizona’s Adrian Wilson — some of the league’s best safeties.
“I do recognize good talent and I like to watch him (Polamalu),” Whitner said. “I like his game. He flies around, he gets to the ball — things I like to do.”
For the Bills to have any success this season, which isn’t expected by many, Whitner will have to do more than just be a leader, he’ll also have to turn in some big plays. He feels like if he continues to prepare the way he does each week, those will come.
“I still go home at night and watch film on my own, “ he said. “I’ll come in and tell the guys what I see and we’ll keep playing hard.”
