Ryan Van Demark already has spent parts of his summer surfing and fishing. The Buffalo Bills’ swing tackle has a number of interests outside of football, and summer’s the time to take advantage.
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Bills offensive lineman Ryan Van Demark said he learned plenty this spring going against the defensive line.
The 26-year-old Van Demark laughs when asked if there’s any overlap of his aquatic interests with football.
“I guess patience?” he quips.
Certainly, there’s an element of patience when he’s in Western New York fishing for carp. And Van Demark has been patient when it comes to the gridiron, too. Playing behind Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, he has to be.
Van Demark has been a pleasant surprise for the Bills. He was closer to the bubble this time last season, but he not only made the roster, he proved his place. Now, his goal is to reestablish himself.
“Just (to) be that sixth man on offense line,” Van Demark said in June. “Obviously, I’ve got two great tackles in front of me, Spencer and Dion, who are great guys to learn from and great guys to back up. And my goal is just to be that sixth man, wherever you need me to – tackle, jumbo tight end – and be available.”
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He played 47 snaps on offense last season, across 12 games, but he was also ready to go in at any time. Even just that amount of real game time gave Van Demark more confidence. Even garbage time snaps helped, he said. Now, he’s building on that.
With Brown working through some injuries, Van Demark got more first-team reps during the spring. He learned plenty from going up against the Bills defensive line.
The Buffalo News' Buffalo Bills beat writers take a look at 10 questions about the team as its heads into training camp later this month.
“I know it’s OTAs, but the speed of the game,” he said. “Just going against like Von (Miller), Greg (Rousseau) and A.J. (Epenesa), and noticing how they get off on the ball and then locking into the snap count and getting that jump on the cadence.”
It’s not just the plays themselves. Van Demark takes time with his defensive counterpart afterward to discuss.
“I love to talk with A.J. after each rep and see what I could have done better and see what he saw,” Van Demark said. “We will converse there and bash ideas against each other. So, it’s always like a friendly good battle out there. But we’re definitely competing. So, he’s trying to help me win, and I’m trying to help him win, even though we’re just playing against each other. So, it’s pretty good.”
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Bills left tackle Ryan Van Demark sets up to protect quarterback Josh Allen in a game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 7.
Van Demark’s big-picture goal is just to be that swing tackle for the Bills, but to accomplish that, he hones in on tiny details in every practice.
“Today, for my right tackle, I was more keyed into (Josh Allen’s) snap count, so I can get off the ball earlier and then my left foot and keeping it on the ground, so I can set back more square,” Van Demark said in June. “That’s my focus.”
No matter his focus, Van Demark has a theme.
“My favorite moment every day is kind of looking forward to the next day – being better than I could be the day before,” Van Demark said. “So, it’s kind of just like that growth mindset and focusing on the positive stuff and just coming out here and getting 1% better.
“And working on stuff that I didn’t do right the day before and getting that corrected and just a building a castle, kind of.”