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          Bills offer comedic update on Rasul Douglas in injury report

          • Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNNov 2, 2023, 12:16 AM
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              Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.

          ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- At the trade deadline, the Buffalo Bills pulled off a move that general manager Brandon Beane said he wasn't sure was possible even earlier that day.

          But Beane got the move done in time, adding a defensive back to the roster in the form of former Green Bay Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas. Naturally, as Beane joked on Wednesday, there aren't many (any) non-stop flights from Green Bay to Buffalo, N.Y., so it took Douglas some time to arrive after the trade occurred so late. Douglas eventually walked out to practice, but did not participate as he gets acclimated.

          When a player on the 53-man roster doesn't practice, however, the team must give a designation as to why. For the Bills, they landed on "just got here" for Douglas.

          During the portion of practice open to the media, Douglas was introducing himself to his new defensive teammates and talking with coach Sean McDermott. The Bills sent a 2024 third-round pick to the Packers for Douglas and a 2024 fifth-round pick. Buffalo is expecting to receive a third-round compensatory pick for losing linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in free agency this offseason.

          The Packers signed Douglas during the 2021 season off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad and he led the team with five interceptions in a little more than half a season. That offseason, they signed him to a three-year, $21 million deal. He was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2017 draft.

          Naturally, when the Packers played the Bills last year, Douglas and quarterback Josh Allen exchanged some words after Douglas was in on an Allen tackle, something that was caught by NFL Films.

          "Obviously Rasul just got here. We're really happy to have him," Allen said when asked about his new teammate. "He's a heck of a corner."

          "[He] takes the ball away," Beane said on what appeals about Douglas "... Very instinctive. We talk about instincts all the time. ... Some guys have that, some guys don't."

          Adding Douglas gives the Bills another veteran presence and the help that the team was looking for in the cornerback room after losing Tre'Davious White for the season because of a torn right Achilles in Week 4. Douglas will fit in well to the Bills' zone scheme and should have plenty of opportunities to play once he settles in.