The Bills started the strength and conditioning phase of their offseason workouts on Monday, which means that guard Richie Incognito was in the building to take part in a team activity for the first time since the 2013 season.
That was when Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins amid allegations that he was one of the players bullying former Miami tackle Jonathan Martin. The Ted Wells report into those allegations also pointed to Incognito as a culprit and he spent the 2014 season out of the game receiving treatment at a facility in Boston and, as he said in February, learning that he “needed to respect those around me more.”
Incognito also said that he knew this was his last chance in the NFL and echoed that message on Monday when he spoke to reporters after his first official day of work with the Bills.
“At the end of the day, humbling is the best way to describe the past year for me,” Incognito said, via the team.
Incognito said he was “really thankful” for the opportunity and that he hoped to both help the guys around him play better as well as earn a starting job. It’s early to make any predictions on that front, but the Bills likely wouldn’t have taken the chance on Incognito if they didn’t think he could help the team in that role and that should provide him with a good opportunity to make good on his goal.