Pittsford, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Khalil Shakir is entering his fourth season with the Buffalo Bills after coming off career highs in all categories at wide receiver.
Last season, Shakir brought in 76 catches for 821 yards and four touchdowns. He was also great in the three playoff games last year for Buffalo, grabbing 18 balls for 174 yards.
Every athlete will tell you they go home in the offseason to work on their game and get better. Shakir is no different.
"First step quickness, always trying to improve on that, speed that you can hold for a certain amount of time. That quick burst, as well as separation and just finding new ways and new releases, and just new ways to get open against man coverage. That’s something I worked on a lot in the offseason," said Shakir on Sunday at Bills training camp.
I have never seen a receiver that has the balance like Shakir has. I’ve seen multiple touchdowns that he’s scored when it looked like he was going down from a tackle, but he keeps his feet and is right back up to full speed. I wondered if that was a skill he developed early in his football life.
"I don’t know if I’ve ever really worked a true balance drill, but I played running back a majority of my life. And through high school, I was back-and-forth between running back and receiver," Shakir said. "Even in college (Boise State), those first couple of years I played running back, so I think it’s just a running back trait in that contact to stay balanced. I’ve been doing that my whole life, so it’s transitioned pretty well."
This basic group of Bills have been together for a long time now, so they know what it takes to get ready for a season.
"The goal is Super Bowl, so for us, the work starts now. And it’s been started since OTAs [organized team activities] and us working together, and we’re on the field with each other and trying to figure out our identity as an offense," Shakir said. "But it’s more of getting to know each other as well, which is why we come up here to St. John Fisher, to be around each other and get that college feel back of being in the dorms and hanging out at lunch. I’ve always said, 'The more you care for a person off the field and their family personally, the more it makes you want to work for them on the field.'"
Different players lead in different ways on a given team. You don’t see Shakir on the field screaming or things like that, but he says he still can lead in his own way.
“Over the course of the past couple of years, I’m a pretty quiet guy, but I’ve tried to work on being a little more vocal and letting guys know they can lean on me whenever they need to," he said. "But if I’m not going to be vocal, I need to be setting the example to the highest level. I have to show like blocking the run game and going out there every single day and doing that."
The Bills are back at camp on Monday at 9:45 a.m.