The Buffalo Bills made some kicking moves this week that came as a bit of a surprise.
First, veteran kicker Matt Prater was signed to the 53-man roster in a non-shocking transaction after his strong debut.
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As far as the head-turning one, punter Brad Robbins, who won the punting job early in training camp, was released after a poor Week 1 effort. That’s pretty quick to toss aside a player, but Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was evidently not taking any chances.
Replacing Robbins is Cameron Johnston:
Johnston looks very much like McDermott, but the surprise sits with how quick the action was taken.
A native of Australia, Johnston punted at Ohio State and has had a strong career before a knee injury in 2024 with the Pittsburgh Steelers ended his season after one game.
As for why the change was made, McDermott was straight forward and said via press conference he felt it was needed.
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“Didn’t feel like we were where we needed to be. Like anything else we’re always looking to improve,” McDermott said.
As for Johnston, he will know he has to perform right away regardless of his past injury.
Johnston said he’s still excited for the chance and even joked he contacted Prater for some intel on the Bills’ facilities in Orchard Park. To Johnston’s disappointment, he said that Prater admitted he doesn’t even really know himself since he only just signed last week to replace the injured Tyler Bass.
“(Prater) was like, ‘hey, I’ve only been here 4-5 days as well,'” Prater said.
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For more from Johnston, see the attached clip below:
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills explain why team signed new punter, and who is Cam Johnston?