Published: August 06, 2008 10:55 am            

BILLS: Simpson quiets critics with resounding play

PITTSFORD — What Ko Simpson lacks in decibels, he makes up for in volume.

As in the amount of space he covers.

Try to get a peep out of the Bills’ fourth-round pick in 2006, who has reassumed his position with the first defensive unit during training camp at St. John Fisher College, and you’re going to be disappointed. Simpson is courteous and well-mannered off the field, a quiet guy who steers clear of the limelight. In that respect, he’s yin to starting strong safety Donte Whitner’s yang. When Whitner insisted the Bills would make the postseason this year, his former running mate kept his lips shut.

But it wasn’t just then. Simpson always seems to keep his lips shut.

And that’s a mix of safeties that Buffalo’s defensive backs coach, George Catavolos, can live with.

“Just because you yell and shout doesn’t mean you’re a good football player,” Catavolos said. “Some guys are quiet. Ko is one of them. There are certain things we’d like to see more of, like we’d like to see Ko be more communicative. But as he gets more confidence in knowing the defenses we’ve called, the communication skills will improve.”

Although Simpson made some noise through his rookie season, at least in terms of his play, last year was a painful reminder of how fleeting a National Football League career can be. In the first game of the 2007 season, Simpson was felled by a broken ankle. Rehabbing the injury was one thing, but getting his confidence level back to NFL standards took considerably more time.

Simpson had always spoken with his athletic talent, and for the first time, he was unsure if that talent was at his beck and call.

“It took me a whole off-season to get ready again mentally,” Simpson said. “I’m still not 100 percent, but I’m making good strides.”

While he’s only played 17 NFL games, Simpson made an instant impact when teaming with Whitner. He had a pair of interceptions to go with 77 tackles in 2006, and most assumed the safety tandem would be a Bills’ strength for years to come.

But while Whitner came into his own last season, Simpson had to watch from the sideline. That means he still has plenty to experience.

“You have to remember that he’s only played one year,” Catavolos said. “He needs to learn more in every phase of the game. At times, he’ll be in the box, because we ask our safeties to be interchangeable at times. He’s going to have get better at man coverage and with his footwork.”

But on the whole, Catavolos is happy to have Simpson, a South Carolina product originally signed by coach Lou Holtz, back in the lineup. George Wilson did an admirable job in his place last year, but Simpson has taken his share of the first-team reps in camp.

And again, it’s all in the volume.

“He tracks the ball so well,” Catavolos said. “He’s got really excellent range. He covers a lot of ground quickly. We’re still working on his footwork, so he doesn’t look like a statue. But his range is his strength.”

For Simpson, that means it’s possible he will have stepped right back into the lineup he left painfully last season.

“We’ll see,” Simpson said. “Never assume anything.”

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.

        

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