'He really is different': How Gabe Davis' winter work may pay off in contract year with Bills

PITTSFORD – One weightlifting set or one trip through the route tree or one sprint at the end of a workout – it can be enough and should be enough for most NFL players.

But not Bills receiver Gabe Davis.

Not ever.

There is always more work to be done, always more things to improve on, always more ways to grind. Five days a week during the offseason, Davis and his training group gather for four hours of high-intensity workouts.

“It’s never, ‘We’ve got one set,’ ” New York Giants receiver Isaiah Hodgins told The Buffalo News. “It’s always two or three sets. You have to be mentally tough and fight through it.”

Kind of like Davis’ 2022 season. It was a mental and physical game of Twister as he battled an ankle injury that wasn’t right until February, forcing him to fight through every week. Tabbed as a breakout candidate, he had 48 catches – 60 fewer than Stefon Diggs – creating speculation the Bills should pursue Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency or DeAndre Hopkins via trade.

Entering his contract season, the question surrounding Davis is whether he can put together a 17-game regular season body of work (and then do his usual good stuff in the playoffs) to prove he merits a long-term contract in Buffalo or elsewhere as a no-doubt No. 2 receiver capable of No. 1-type highlights.

Improve and Davis will be at or near the top of the 2024 receiver free-agent class that is headlined by Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins and includes Cleveland’s Donovan Peoples-Jones and Atlanta’s Mack Hollins. Possibly a $10 million-per-year player.

The Bills’ passing game will – and should – go through Diggs, but there will be advantageous matchups to be had for Davis, who will lean on his physical skills honed through taxing workouts in Orlando.

“Gabe is a very big piece of what we’ve got here,” quarterback Josh Allen said.

Davis believes in the sweat equity of being a professional football player. Put in the behind-the-scenes work and that will take care of his future.

“If it’s my destiny to be with the Bills and play for the Bills, then it will happen,” he told The News following Thursday’s training camp practice. “If it isn’t, then it isn’t. I’m trying to control what I can and that’s taking it one day at a time and being in the moment.”

Being ready for the big game-day moments is an everyday process. Literally every day.

“He really is different,” said Bert Whigham, who has trained Davis for nearly a decade.

Offseason changes

Davis’ third NFL season wasn’t great, wasn’t bad – it was just nondescript. One 100-yard game. Only three touchdowns over the final 10 regular-season games. Just two games with more than four receptions (48 total). In addition to the ankle, he also battled a thumb issue.

“The thumb was nothing really crazy – Josh threw a freaking rocket at me,” he said with a laugh. “It was more the ankle.”

Since his days at Seminole High School in Sanford, Fla., Davis’ offseason training has been led by Whigham, also a Seminole alum. Acknowledging, but not accepting how 2022 ended (playoff loss to Cincinnati) and understanding, but not overthinking the stakes of 2023 (striving for a new contract), Davis and Whigham made changes to their plan.

Davis needed rest.

After the 2021 season (January 2022), Davis took six days off before starting his training routine. After the Cincinnati loss, Whigham said Davis’ ankle “wasn’t 100%,” so they throttled down and started 23 days after the Bills’ elimination.

Davis needed to stay off the turf.

The 2022 workouts were conducted almost exclusively on the artificial surface of UCF’s indoor facility, subjecting Davis to unnecessary wear.

And there was the mindset aspect. Davis’ self-applied standard wasn’t met during the season. Was he able to quickly pivot toward this season?

“As well as he could,” Whigham said. “I don’t think anybody saw that (Cincinnati) game coming. I know I didn’t. I was concerned he would put everything on his shoulders because that’s how he is – nobody puts more pressure on himself than he does. He was able to understand it was bigger than any one, single person.”

Unsurprisingly, Davis dove into his training. Whigham’s group, which included Hodgins (formerly of the Bills) and current Bills running back Latavius Murray (then a free agent) wanted to be pushed to the brink … and they were obliged.

Four days per week (Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday), the group’s weightlifting session ran from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., followed by a 1 p.m. field session.

“Guys would say, ‘I can’t do it – you guys work out too long,’ ” Murray said. “It would be four total hours. Gabe is one of the hardest workers I’ve been around, if not the hardest.”

Never letting up is a badge of honor for Davis.

“I’m lasting the whole time,” he said. “I feel like I have to go to work and set the tone and show the standard of what we’re doing and how we work.”

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Davis would have “recovery-active days” at the gym/recovery center he opened in suburban Orlando (the Draft Academy has a square footage of 5,000 feet). He boxed, caught footballs from a machine and spent time in the sauna, hyperbolic chamber and hot/cold tubs. Whigham serves as the facility’s performance coach and the staff includes a physical therapist and nutritionist.

“The way he works is very inspiring and guys see that and it makes guys work harder,” Allen said.

Relayed his quarterback’s comment, Davis said: “That’s what I base my whole life on. I want the guys to know they can depend on me to work hard and they can count on me when the times are tough that I’m going to go hard. I try to show that every single day.”

‘Extreme confidence’ in Davis

Last November, when snow buried Orchard Park and the Bills were unable to practice or train before flying to Detroit for their “home” game against Cleveland, was an experience Davis didn’t want to repeat.

“We realized you need to have recovery equipment in the house,” Whigham said.

Davis had an infrared sauna installed at his house – it gets to 140-160 degrees and aids recovery by pulling toxins out of the body. He also has a stationary bike.

Once Davis returned to Buffalo for the Bills’ offseason program, he began working with new receivers coach Adam Henry.

“My thing is to not make him a robot and just try to make him better,” Henry said. “He’s taking the coaching really, really good and we’ve bonded. He has energy and enthusiasm and that’s what I like in learning.”

The final step for Davis before training camp was traveling to California for workouts with Allen and backup quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Matt Barkley, running back Damien Harris and receivers Trent Sherfield and Khalil Shakir.

A lot about a player can be gleaned by what the people around him say. Simply put, Davis is beloved within the organization and the sentiment is unanimous that he will play well.

“I feel like Gabe Davis will have a breakout year,” Diggs said. “He’s (darn) near a wide receiver (No.) 1. In my eyes, if I wasn’t here, he would be wide receiver 1.”

Davis’ career numbers slot him as a dependable player. Among the 25 drafted receivers in his class, he ranks 10th in catches and ninth in receiving yards (1,984), but tied for second in touchdown receptions (20) and first in yards per catch (16.8). But the Bills and Davis feel there is more to be had.

Davis has put in the work. The grind. The commitment. The want-to. During the winter in Orlando. During the spring in Buffalo. And during the first days of training camp in Pittsford. Now comes the chance to show it off.

“Extreme confidence in Gabe,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “He’s one of our hardest workers, he loves football – he’s passionate about it. And when you follow that up with the work ethic, good things happen. He’s a good football player and will always be one. I’m excited to watch him this season.”

Davis by the numbers

The Bills’ Gabe Davis was one of 35 receivers drafted in 2020. How Davis ranks among those players in key statistical categories:

Catches

1. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota#324

10. Gabe Davis, Bills#118

Receiving yards

1. Jefferson#4,825

9. Davis#1,984

Touchdown catches

1. Jefferson#25

T2. Davis#20

T2. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas#20

Yards per catch

1. Davis#16.8*

*Minimum 100 catches