Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots: 6 players to watch in Week 16

Spencer Brown

The rookie offensive tackle is going to play a key role on the offensive line for the Buffalo Bills this week. At this point in the week, it remains to be seen if Dion Dawkins, who is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, will return for this weekend’s game.

If Dawkins is not able to come back, the Bills once again will likely line up Spencer Brown at left tackle for the second straight week. In the Panthers’ game last week, Brown didn’t necessarily play great and was called for a number of penalties. This is something he will need to work on this week, and he noted that after the game that it was unacceptable, according to Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com.

"“That was me being an idiot and hurting my team quite honestly,” Brown said. “We can’t sit here and use the excuse of, oh, he’s at left tackle and he’s probably new to it. … It hurts the team; It can’t happen. Going into the next week if Dion is back, hopefully he is, I don’t know his situation. (But) If not I gotta go into next week and I gotta learn how to play left tackle just a little bit better and get the penalties down. Because obviously it hurts teams and kills drives. Can’t happen.”"

Even if Dion Dawkins is back this week, Brown is likely going to be challenged by Bill Belichick and this defense. I would imagine wherever Spencer Brown lines up, the Patriots will try to have Matt Judon against him. This will be a big week for the offensive tackle and if he is able to have a better performance, the offense and Josh Allen should find more success.