Experience is everything. So after Rian Lindell went down with a shoulder injury making a tackle against the Jets Sunday, the Bills looked to a journeyman to fill their need at kicker. Enter Dave Rayner.
Rayner, a Michigan State grad who has played in the league since 2005, was added to the roster Monday after the team looked at several candidates. Head coach Chan Gailey said that although other potentials looked good, experience won out.
“He had experience,” Gailey told the media Wednesday. “Having experience was one of the biggest factors. All the guys we tried out kicked very well.”
This will be the eighth team Rayner has joined in his career, most recently leaving the Raiders after a brief stint while Sebastian Janikowski was sidelined. The 29-year-old has spent time with in Indianapolis, Green Bay, Kansas City, Detroit and Cincinnati, where he was teammates with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“He’s been around,” Fitzpatrick told the media Wednesday. “He’s a good guy, easy going, fits into what we have going on here in the locker room. He’s a pro. He gets paid to make kicks and that’s what we expect him to do.”
The constant change is something Rayner accepts, and though he acknowledged Wednesday that Buffalo isn’t the easiest place to kick, ultimately it’s about going out there, getting the job done and winning games.
“That’s the life of a kicker, wherever you can get a job,” he told reporters. “There’s only 32 jobs and it’s inevitable that every year someone is going to have an injury so you have to be ready and I’m happy to be here. (Buffalo’s) a tough place to kick. We’re on the road for the next three weeks so that takes the home kicking out of the mix. I’m just going to do what I need to do and make kicks and kick off well.”
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