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Prior to that game four seasons ago, Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez suffered a quad injury in pregame warmups. Left without a kicker, Carolina went 1-for-2 on two-point conversion attempts and went for it on fourth down five times, converting just once.

The memory of that game explains, in part, why Bills coach Sean McDermott had running back Ray Davis attempt an extra point Saturday 鈥� which he converted 鈥� against the New York Giants at Highmark Stadium.

鈥淵ou never know, right?鈥� McDermott said. 鈥淚 just feel like, what if it happens in a game? We鈥檝e been on the other side of it where a team has lost their kicker, I think it was in pregame warmups a few years back, so you kind of make a mental note of that and saying, 鈥楬ey, what if it happened to us?鈥� 鈥�

With Tyler Bass out of Saturday鈥檚 game because of pelvic soreness, McDermott got to experiment, even though the team had signed kicker Caden Davis the day before the game.

鈥淚 wanted to see what it would look like,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 different doing it in practice. We鈥檝e always practiced it, but the transition, right, the pit stop.鈥�

The biggest challenge was time. McDermott used the analogy of a pit stop in auto racing, when the crew changes tires, or in this case for Davis, a shoe.

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting the shoe off and getting the other (kicking) shoe on,鈥� McDermott said. 鈥淚 think (special teams coordinator Chris) Tabor may have tied his shoe for him. I鈥檓 not sure, but it was a really good pit stop, and then the execution, so really cool to watch.鈥�

Davis was both the kicker and punter during high school, so he has at least some experience handling those duties. He campaigned at three different college stops to continue kicking, but was met with a 鈥渘o鈥� every time.

Finally, in his second year with the Bills, he got a chance.

鈥淚 think I can do a 45-yarder now, I believe,鈥� he said after the game, with a wide smile. 鈥淣o, it was cool. I mean, it was a great experience to be able to do it in a preseason game. Let鈥檚 pray that I never have to do it again. We have a wonderful kicker in T-Bass, but if anything ever does happen, at least McDermott knows I鈥檒l be able to kick a field goal if he needs it.鈥�

Caden Davis, the kicker the Bills signed, handled the rest of the kicking duties Saturday, and Ray Davis isn鈥檛 expected to kick again during the preseason.

Maybe there was a bit of a gimmick element to his attempt Saturday 鈥� and let鈥檚 be honest, there is nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun during the preseason 鈥� but then again, maybe there was some value in it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see that. I think it鈥檚 energy producing,鈥� McDermott said. 鈥淩ay takes a lot of pride in things. In particular, playing running back, being a great teammate, and then in this case, you know, kicking. Like, what happens if it does happen?鈥�

Whether Davis would have enough time to get into his kicking shoe, particularly if he was the one who scored the touchdown, makes it doubtful that it would happen in a real game.

But stranger things have happened, which the Bills learned in 2021.

鈥淎ll I can think about is either I鈥檓 going to have a great night tonight and a bunch of Instagram followers or my DMs are going to be talking about how I cannot kick a ball,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭hat was my thought process throughout the whole time. Once I saw it go in, (holder) Brad (Robbins) was like, 鈥楬oly (expletive)! It went in! We were like, 鈥楬oly (expletive), it did go in. That was pretty cool.鈥�