DT Deone Walker : “Doing a lot of drill work”
Buffalo’s fourth-round pick Deone Walker comes to the Bills feeling more like himself than he did during the 2024 season. Walker played with an injured back, which wasn’t discovered until after the season.
“I had a pars defect in my back,” Walker said the night he was drafted. “…I didn’t know about it until after the season, really until the combine. We didn’t really know what it was, but I feel a 100% right now.”
Even though the newest defensive tackle is feeling great, the Bills want to ease him into things.
“If we decide to limit him during the spring, that’s just to make sure we are making him more ready, more durable, and letting that thing continue to heal,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said on draft weekend. “But we feel there’s a good prognosis with him. We feel he’ll be full go, ready to play when we get to training camp.”
On Friday, Walker took advantage of every rep he got, even the mental reps.
“I’m doing a lot of drill work” Walker said of his participation. “A bunch of the indy (individual) periods, I’m still in there. Even when they’re out in team, I’m getting mental reps. Just focusing in and trying to help out my teammates.”
While the former Kentucky product wasn’t on the field for every snap, he’s still learning from his new teammates.
“Still just watching the reps in person helps way more than I thought it would,” Walker shared. “Watching T.J. Sanders get out there, that’s my guy. Just watching them did help a lot.”
Walker isn’t the only Kentucky Wildcat in the draft class as his teammate Maxwell Hairston was drafted by Buffalo in the first round. The two also overlapped with former Kentucky running back Ray Davis in 2023. Walker joked that Davis has already been a great host to the rookies.
“Whenever I need to stay at Ray’s, he’s going to let me,” Walker said. “I know Max is already staying over there with him. I might go get a bed over there.”