Ray hoping to revive NFL career with Bills

Pittsford, N.Y. -- Four years away from the National Football League is an eternity for a player.

So, by that measure, former Toronto Argonauts defensive lineman Shane Ray has already beat the odds just by getting to training camp this summer with the Buffalo Bills.

Now the former 2015 first-round pick of the Denver Broncos is trying to secure a spot at the bottom of the roster and resume an NFL career that was interrupted after four injury-plagued seasons, including missing all of the 2018 season before his release.

A training camp stint with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 was the last time Ray stepped onto an NFL field. He was signed by the Bills just before Organized Team Activities (OTAs) in the spring, days before his 30th birthday, after spending the past two seasons with the Argonauts.

“The Canadian Football League was definitely a stepping stone for me to get back. Just from having to adjust to the game, put the grind in, work my way back out after two years and helping my team win a Grey Cup,” Ray said. “It was something I needed, and I appreciated.

“I still keep up with those guys in Toronto. I still call them and check on them and I post posts because I really do have love for those guys in how they allowed me to [revive] my career. When the NFL wasn’t giving me a chance, they gave me a chance to come in and be myself and fall in love with the game again – fall in love with the process and fall in love with football. I didn’t take it for granted.”

Ray’s signing in Buffalo came as a bit of a surprise to many because it’s unusual for players at his age and with his injury history to land opportunities in the NFL. Though Ray was effective while on the field with Toronto, he missed large chunks of both his CFL seasons due to injuries.

He tore a bicep in his 13th game last season, missing the final five regular-season contests and the playoffs after amassing 13 defensive tackles, six sacks, and two forced fumbles.

But his proven ability to get to the quarterback trumped the injury concerns after a workout with the Bills this spring.

Ray has impressed early in camp and will get his chance to show what he can do in live action starting with the team’s first pre-season game when the Bills host Indianapolis on Aug. 12.

“I don’t know if I’m at my peak, but I feel great,” he said. “My work this off-season is speaking for itself.”

Ray is also happy to be reunited with close friend and former Broncos teammate Von Miller.

Miller, who is rehabbing an ACL injury this summer and hopes to return during the first six weeks of the season, said he offered no endorsement of his friend to the Bills, wanting Ray to make it back to the NFL on his own merit.

“That’s my brother and when I say brother, I mean blood couldn’t make us no closer,” Ray said. “He’s always been there for me my whole career. To have someone like that be continually in your corner … He’s kind of like a mentor to me, teaching me things about the game and helping me evolve.

“Our relationship has continued to blossom and I’m just happy I have my guy here with me.”

Though Ray’s pedigree as a former first-round pick may have helped open doors for him with the Bills, he understands his status has changed since that day, meaning his potential role in the NFL has changed as well.

He projects as a situational pass rusher and special teams player with the Bills, roles often reserved for younger players just breaking into the league.

“I think I just have to bring what I’ve been bringing. That’s effort, that’s consistency, knowing the playbook, winning my rushes and special teams,” he said. “I understand I’ve been out of the league for a little while and I have to work my way up the totem pole. I don’t have the first-round tag anymore and all the pressure. But it’s cool, I like it that way. I like to be a hidden gem … I know I have to be on special teams to help this team … I don’t have any problem with that at all.”

Ray gives special thanks to Argos defensive co-ordinator Corey Mace, a former Bills defensive tackle, with whom he bonded during their one season together in 2022. Ray keeps up with Mace and some of his former teammates, enjoying their success from just across the border.

“I called coach Mace a couple of days ago because I check in with the D-line and I said ‘S--t, y’all don’t need me,” he said with a chuckle. “Our relationship was more brother than coach. When he came there as DC at the start of my second season, he sat me down and said ‘Hey, this defence and D-line goes with you. What you bring to the table is what guys are going to follow.’ That conversation really shaped my mind on how I wanted to lead those guys, to carry myself in the building, be there for my team and be a leader, and it all worked out.

“I would like to think I have a high football IQ and chilling with Mace and breaking down the games in Canada … Mace told me I can be a coach one day. Just that relationship has allowed me to continue to love football and he’s been a part of just growing me back into this person that I am.”