Bills LB Merriman eager to show he's 'Lights Out'

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The start of the regular season is finally upon him, and Buffalo Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman can barely contain himself.

“Yeah, I'm doing a pretty good job on the outside,” Merriman said before the Bills held their first practice Monday in preparing for their regular-season opener at Kansas City on Sunday. “On the inside, it's still difficult because those emotions run wild.”

Entering his seventh NFL season, Merriman has good reason to be bursting at the seams.

It's going on 11 months since he played in a meaningful game, and it's been two years since Merriman played anywhere close to his once-dominant “Lights Out” form. Despite missing two weeks of training camp with a groin injury, all it took was a handful of productive snaps over two preseason games to convince him he's ready.

“I feel good, man,” he said. “Fans and the people watching the game, they're going to know, for one, that I'm back playing the way I need to play.”

Merriman opened the preseason with a three-tackle, two-sack outing in a 10-3 loss at Chicago. And then, after missing two games, he closed the preseason by making three tackles — including one for a loss — in two series of a 16-6 loss to Detroit last week.

That's the type of production the Bills are counting on since claiming Merriman off waivers in November after he was cut by San Diego.

The Chargers ran out of patience waiting for Merriman to stay healthy after a series of injuries to his calf, knee and Achilles tendon slowed his production in two of the past three years. The Bills didn't have much to lose in gambling that the 2005 NFL defensive rookie of the year and three-time Pro Bowl selection still had something left.

Merriman didn't play a snap with the Bills last season after aggravating a sore Achilles tendon in his first practice with the team that led him to being placed on injured reserve. And yet the Bills believed enough in Merriman to re-sign him to a two-year contract in January.

He's now part of a revamped defense that is expected to improve on its woeful numbers last year, when it finished last in the NFL against the run and struggled in applying pressure.

“I see flashes of it,” coach Chan Gailey said, assessing Merriman's progress. “Every time he plays, he makes plays. So I'm excited to see what he can do. And I know he's excited to see what he can do.”

Those flashes include Merriman's two sacks against the Bears, which came on consecutive plays late in the first quarter.

Then came the burst he showed in stopping the run against Detroit. Shooting through the line, Merriman brought down Jahvid Best for a 1-yard loss on the third play from scrimmage. On the next series, Merriman caught Aaron Brown from behind, holding him to a 10-yard gain on third-and-12.

“So far, he's looked more like the vintage Shawne that we're all used to seeing,” said linebacker Nick Barnett. “He's out there playing with that relentless pursuit of the ball, playing with his hair on fire.”

That's the way Merriman played when he first broke into the NFL. He had 39-1/2 sacks in his first three NFL seasons, including a career-best 17 in 2006. His production has fallen off, having managed just four sacks in 18 games over the past three years.

Buffalo represents a fresh start for Merriman, and it begins Sunday.

“I've been waiting a long time,” he said. “Being away from the game, it makes you that much more hungry to get back on the field.”

The key is staying patient.

“One thing I've learned is that you can't let your emotions get the best of you during the week,” Merriman said. “You can't get burnt out by Wednesday and Thursday because you're excited to play football again. That's not going to benefit you on Sunday.”

Notes: Gailey said he's leaning toward LT Demetrius Bell retaining his starting job to open the season. ... Rookie seventh-round pick DT Michael Jasper is making the switch to offensive line now that he's a member of the practice squad. Jasper initially played on the offensive line in college, before moving to defense as a senior last year at Bethel University. ... The Bills are off until returning to practice Wednesday.