CB Tre'Davious White is valuable for Bills on and off the field

Buffalo has another weapon in the lineup as it looks to lock down the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs: former All-Pro Tre'Davious White, who recently returned from a knee injury suffered last season. The cornerback is just as important off the field as on.

White is a renowned team leader, especially among Buffalo's young defensive backs. 

"Just seeing his work ethic translate from the training room to the field is really inspiring," said rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam, per buffalobills.com.

“Just to have him out there just gives you that extra boost for sure," cornerback Dane Jackson said after a recent win, per syracuse.com. 

Against Detroit on Thanksgiving, his first game in 2022, White played 23% of defensive snaps. The next week, he played 61% of the snaps against New England.

In Sunday's 20-12 win over the New York Jets, White played all Buffalo's defensive snaps, He periodically matched up against Jets rookie star Garrett Wilson, who finished with six catches for 78 yards. Wilson had a few underneath catches in White's vicinity.

That White played a full game is encouraging for the Bills. How long it takes him to hit his stride is unknown. 

White may never get back to his 2019 peak, when he had a league-best six interceptions en route to a fifth-place finish in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting. 

Cornerback is one of the hardest positions to play in the NFL, and it shows when you're less than 100%. But White returning to his All-Pro self may not be a top priority for the Bills. 

In 2017, his first year as Bills GM, Brandon Beane made White his first draft pick. In the early years of Buffalo's rebuild, White spearheaded a unit that dramatically overachieved.

During a media availability last month, White jokingly said "you guys haven't noticed that I haven't been out there." 

There's truth in what he said, although that's a testament to how well White helped build Buffalo's infrastructure — on and off the field.