ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills defensive lineman Kingsley Jonathan couldn't stay away from his phone the past couple of days, waiting to see if he had been cut.
"No news is good news," Jonathan said. "I was looking at my phone all day yesterday, the day before. Just looking at it, looking at it, praying. At one moment, I just stopped looking at it, and I didn't hear anything, so I was like, 'I've just got to go in the next day.' "
And he did, this time as part of the Bills' 53-man roster.
For the Syracuse product, this was actually his second training camp with the Bills. He signed in Buffalo last offseason as an undrafted free agent but didn't make the 53-man roster.
He was waived, then signed with Chicago before coming back to join the Bills on their practice squad.
This time around, there was nothing stopping him from making the Bills' initial 53-man roster.
Jonathan flashed both in preseason and training camp. After some the tense moments by his phone and plenty of hard work this summer, Jonathan is on the team.
"It's awesome news to hear that they believe enough in me to put me on this team to be able to show what I can do," Jonathan said.
Another person happy to see Jonathan back in Buffalo is general manager Brandon Beane. Beane said "last year at this time I was disappointed," and called it a tough decision last year to waive Jonathan as a rookie, with the Bears signing him before he could make to the Bills' practice squad.
"I wasn't going to do that again," Beane said. "I think Kingsley just kept coming and coming in camp. He just plays with a motor, and he plays violent. He's relentless. He's still learning the pass rush moves and all that, that you need at this level, but he's got a motor that's hard to match."
There's an opportunity for Jonathan and the rest of the pass rushers to flash what they can do early on in the season, with Von Miller will miss the first four weeks due to being on the PUP list.
"We have the guys in the room, with Von being down, to keep doing what we do and step up more," Jonathan said.
Jonathan will get that chance, both on defense and special teams Beane noted. This time, it'll be as part of the 53-man roster.
As Jonathan said, no news was good news.