Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott made the decision on Friday for his team’s game against the Carolina Panthers to sit rookie punter Matt Araiza. The reasoning was sound enough, given the lawsuit filed by a woman in San Diego Super Court this week, accusing Araiza and two other current and former San Diego State players of rape, false imprisonment and gender-violence crimes. Why Araiza was still on the team was a mystery (though he isn’t anymore), and McDermott completely whiffed in his postgame press conference when he tried to both-sides the whole situation, extending “thoughts and prayers” to the alleged victim… and to Araiza himself.
Not a great moment for the coach. Another not-so-great moment was the decision earlier in the week to release punter Matt Haack, which left no punter on the roster for the Panthers game. This led to a pregame situation in which safety Micah Hyde, and backup quarterbacks Case Keenum and Matt Barkley, competed to fill the punter’s role for the game.
