Entering his 13th season in the NFL, Jordan Poyer stares down a mirror of deformities, torn ligaments, swollen fingers, and a body that has absorbed hits like a crash-test dummy. While some might have walked away from football for good, that’s not the kind of man Poyer is. Instead, he is back with the Buffalo Bills.

The 34-year-old witnessed plenty on and off the field: alcohol abuse, PTSD over a friend’s death, Toradol, and cluster headaches. However, the safety made a comeback to the starting lineup of the Bills. He spoke to Tyler Dunne about playing football after continuous struggles:

“I’m supposed to be here,” Poyer says. “Yeah, I could be done right now. My cleats could be hung up. I’d be good for a long time. But I want to go out my way. I want to go out the right way. I’m going to put my f****** best foot down. I’m going to keep swinging.”

His battle with addiction can be traced back to 2016, when he was with the Cleveland Browns. Poyer was seen coughing up blood after the Tennessee Titans running back, Antonio Andrews, slammed his shoulder into Poyer’s sternum. The blow was so hard that a doctor told him his internal bleeding was similar to that of someone getting into a car crash without wearing a seatbelt. Also, if Poyer had been hit half an inch lower or higher, that vicious blow risked ending his life.

“Alcohol was a way for me to numb all of that,” Poyer recalled after their 2019 playoff loss against the Houston Texans. “Just run away from it and not feel anxiety or stress. When I was drinking, when I couldn’t separate the difference between football and home, I was walking around with a mask on.”

Despite all the hardships, Jordan Poyer leaves it all out on the field. In the Bills’ 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Poyer finished with a team-high 11 tackles. He also had a half-sack and an interception. In 10 games so far this season, Poyer has recorded 70 tackles. This includes 31 solo and 39 assisted tackles and one interception.

It feels like Poyer is at his healthiest since 2022 and is ready for whatever head coach Sean McDermott asks of him. Furthermore, Poyer also recalled the time he helped his teammates when they were not at their best on the field.

Jordan Poyer opens up about helping Bills teammates

It appears that not only does Poyer have tunnel vision, but he is also helping his teammates with ‘shifting perspective.’ The safety spoke about the time when cornerback Christian Benford and running back Ray Davis were “down the hole.”

“You can look at things in two different lights,” Poyer says. “The dark light or the positive light. Shifting someone’s perspective is all I came here to do: ‘Be a light.’ Obviously, I didn’t think that the season was going to turn out the way that this is. I thought maybe I’d still be on the practice squad and just be a light for guys to ask questions about football.”

Well, it appears that the conversation helped both Benford and Davis. The running back established himself as one of the NFL’s best kick returners. Also, Benford’s back-to-back touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals helped save the Bills’ season.

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With a terrific 11-4 record this season, the Bills have already qualified for the NFL playoffs. The team recorded its fourth consecutive win against the Browns. They will now host the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium in the coming weeks.