Pittsford, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Tyler Bass is entering his fourth season as the kicker of the Buffalo Bills. Bass was taken in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Georgia Southern.
Orchard Park can be a very difficult place to kick for both Bass and punter Sam Martin. In his career at home, Bass has made 84.6% of his field goal attempts, making 44-of-52 kicks. Last year, only one of his misses came while in Orchard Park.
Overall, Bass has made 83-of-97 field goal attempts in his career, which is 85.6% of his kicks. He’s only missed four attempts in each of the last two seasons.
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While Bass' numbers have been impressive since entering the league, he still isn’t totally satisfied.
"I’m challenging myself in certain scenarios that I may have struggled with in the past," said Bass following Wednesday's practice at Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University.
"I felt like last year, I left a couple of kicks out there that I wish I could take back. But going forward, I’m intentional with every rep, treating it like a game, which helps prepare me for the field."
For the first time in his NFL career, Bass will enter a season with the same holder (Martin) and long snapper (Reid Ferguson) as he had the year prior. He says it really is a big deal.
"It’s been unbelievable," Bass said. "Sam and Reid are two of the best in the league, they make my job easy. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at.
"Sam’s helped me so much in certain situations where he’ll say, 'Hey Tyler, take a look at the play clock. Let's take our time here,' and Reid starts the play. Without Reid, we couldn’t get it done. You don’t even think twice about it. You know it’s going to be right there every time."
Bass further credits Ferguson as taking him under his wing, and shaping him into his routine.
"Reid’s our glue. Without Reid, we’re not here. Without Reid, we can’t punt, we can’t kick field goals. He’s truly our leader on special teams," Bass said.
Martin kicked for seven seasons with the Detroit Lions before going to Denver for two years with the Broncos. Martin has seen a lot, but he knew coming to Buffalo, he’d have to learn how to kick here.
"It was a learning curve that had to happen fast, as I signed here in Week 1," said Martin following Wednesday's training camp practice. "Buffalo’s always had a reputation as being a tough place to kick, but having to play here eight times (it was 10 with playoffs) and having to see what the wind’s doing every day, because it’s different and it’s crosswind and it’s swirls. It was kind of on the run last year.
"It’s nice having a year under my belt. Having to practice in there, I get a better understanding of how it works, and going into it with a little bit of knowledge."
I was curious if Martin saw conditions during a game or practice that really took him by surprise.
"One thing that’s unique about the stadium here is you could be on the 30-yard-line on one side of the field, the wind’s doing one thing, and you move to the 50 and it’s doing something else," Martin said. "The warm-up is real important trying to figure out. It might be in my face on the 30, but once I get it to the 50, it’s going to carry. So the field is tricky in that sense. It’s been big trying to figure that out."
Martin didn’t get a chance to punt last season until Week 2, as he wasn’t called upon to punt against the Los Angeles Rams in the season opener. He only had one punt in Miami against the Dolphins, and had five other games where he only punted twice.
"I like my job. I like doing what I do. But if I’m not punting, it probably means we’re winning. I’m totally fine with that," Martin said. "The more I’m holding for Tyler, probably the better the offense is doing. There were times where I wouldn’t punt until there was two minutes left in the game, and I had to stay loose and mentally engaged. That was part of the learning curve as well."
Sometimes the Bills bring in other kickers or punters, but this season for training camp, it’s just Martin and Bass.
The final practice of training camp takes place on Thursday at 9:45 a.m. ET.
