Morse and Davis return to Buffalo with Jaguars and respect for 'beautiful' Bills Mafia

Mitch Morse expects a “different opportunity” when he experiences Highmark Stadium as a visitor for the first time.

Morse spent the past five years as Buffalo’s starting center and witnessed how much “it sucks for the other team.” Now, he’ll be among the ones getting harassed when he returns to the Bills' stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.

“It’s a special group of people and it’s a special inebriation level that they reach in the game,” Morse said. “But it’s a beautiful fan base and one that I cherished for five years.

“It’ll be definitely a different opportunity to have the stuff thrown at you rather than seeing how it sucks for the other team. Now I’ll have to be dodging and dipping stuff. It’ll be good.”

Thanks to Morse, receiver Gabe Davis, special teams coach Heath Farwell and receivers coach Chad Hall, the Jaguars should have a grasp on how to better handle one of the NFL’s most daunting road venues. All four worked in Buffalo in recent years.

Morse and Davis were on the same side of the ball for four seasons there, and it was no coincidence they landed in Jacksonville together.

The Jaguars were looking to add veterans with playoff experience, so they signed Morse, Davis, defensive lineman Arik Armstead from San Francisco, safety Darnell Savage from Green Bay and cornerback Ronald Darby and return specialist Devin Duvernay from Baltimore.

Morse and Davis are the only ones with a pseudo homecoming scheduled this season, and it comes with the Jaguars (0-2) still trying to find their footing.

Jacksonville has struggled offensively, averaging a measly 15 points while quarterback Trevor Lawrence continues to make rookie mistakes behind an inconsistent line and continues to play without Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram (hamstring). Coach Doug Pederson isn't ready to hit the panic button and will keep his starting lineup intact against the Bills (2-0).

“The message you kind of relay is don’t ride the roller coaster of emotions that is the NFL, that outside the building wants you to,” Morse said. “If you feed into that, you’re not going to be in the right head space to attack the day. Keep it insulated, keep it in house and don’t ride the waves.

“We know we need to work. … We have a great opportunity against a very good opponent in an extremely hostile environment.”

The Bills have won 11 of their past 12 at home, with the lone loss coming on a last-second debacle against Denver last season. So the Jaguars understand how close to perfect they need to play to win a prime-time road game in that environment.

“It’s unreal,” Davis said. “The Buffalo fan base is awesome. They support their team like nothing else. That’s what I loved about Buffalo so much is that they were there no matter what, school nights and everything. It’s awesome to see, and I’m happy that the guys here will be able to experience something like that because it is an unreal stadium."

Morse spent the first four years of his NFL career with Kansas City and never played in Buffalo, so he got a crash course on the Bills Mafia and their table-smashing tailgates when he signed with the Bills in 2019.

“It’s a very rambunctious crowd,” he quipped.

The Jags have dropped three in a row in Buffalo, with their most recent win there coming in 2010. Pederson and his players stopped short of calling this a must-win scenario. But given how few NFL teams start 0-3 and make the playoffs, they realize the stakes.

“The fans are going to be juiced up and ready to go,” Pederson said. “It’ll be good for us. It’s a benchmark. It’s a measuring stick game right now.”

Morse knows that as well as anyone, having been on a Kansas City team in 2016 that started 1-5 before winning 11 in a row and been on several squads that started well and stumbled down the stretch.

“I’ve seen quite a bit," he said. "The teams that seem to not ride the rollercoaster, that weather the storms that are going to happen are the teams that care about each other and fight for each other but also have a sense of urgency.

"I’m not saying it’s all good. There’s definitely stuff we need to fix, don’t get me wrong. We'll just work on it and do it in a constructive way.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) leaps over Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (6) on a run during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Buffalo Bills fans cheer on their team during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) throwsw a pass as a teammates helmet flies off during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Buffalo Bills linebacker Dorian Williams celebrates his fumble recovery against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Buffalo Bills fans celebrate a Bills touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) —

Four people were killed and 17 others injured when multiple shooters opened fire Saturday in what police described as a targeted “hit” on one of the people killed at a popular nightlife spot in Birmingham, Alabama,

The shooting happened shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday in Five Points South, a district filled with entertainment venues, restaurants and bars that is often crowded on weekend nights. The mass shooting, one of several this year in the city, unnerved residents in the area and left city officials pleading for help to both solve the crime and address the broader problem of gun violence.

“The priority is to find these shooters and get them off our streets,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a Sunday press conference.

The shooting occurred outside Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge, in the entertainment district. Blood stains were visible on the sidewalk outside the venue on Sunday morning.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said authorities believe the shooting targeted one of the people who was killed, possibly in a murder-for-hire. He said a vehicle pulled up and "multiple shooters" got out and began firing, then fled the scene.

“We believe that there was a ‘hit,’ if you will, on that particular person,” Thurmond said.

Police said approximately 100 shell casings were recovered at the scene. Thurmond said law enforcement was working to determine what weapons were used, but they believe some of the gunfire was “fully automatic.” Investigators were also trying to determine whether anyone fired back, creating crossfire.

Police said officers found two men and a woman on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds and they were pronounced dead there. An additional male gunshot victim was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police.

By early Sunday, after victims began showing up at hospitals, police had identified 17 people with injuries, some of them life-threatening.

The area of Birmingham is popular with young adults because of its proximity to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the plethora of nearby restaurants and bars.

Geoffrey Boshell, a 22-year-old biomedical engineering student who lives nearby, said he was working on a school project when he heard a burst of rapid pops that he said sounded like automatic gunfire.

“I heard it, looked out my window and immediately see people screaming, fleeing the scene,” Boshell said.

The shooting in the bustling and popular area was unnerving, he said. “I’m not sure scared is the right word. Just very disturbed that it was happening right outside where you are living.”

Ashton Mills, 24, who lives in a nearby apartment complex was headed to work Saturday night when she heard a “bunch of popping sounds.”

“It’s scary, especially as a single woman walking around the city,” she said. “I’m definitely a lot more on guard.”

Woodfin expressed frustration at what he described as an epidemic of gun violence in America.

“We find ourselves in 2024, where gun violence is at an epidemic level, an epidemic crisis in our country. And the city of Birmingham, unfortunately finds itself at the tip of that spear,” he said.

The Birmingham mayor also urged state and federal officials to give cities more tools to address gun violence. He put both hands behind his back to illustrate what it is like for cities to combat crime. Alabama last year abolished the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.

Woodfun said there is an “element” in the city that is too comfortable carrying Glock switches — which convert semi-automatic handguns to deliver more rapid fire — and assault-style rifles with the intent of doing harm.

“Elected officials locally, statewide and nationally have a duty to solve this American crisis, this American epidemic of gun violence,” the mayor said.

Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

CORRECTS DATE hat appears to be a bullet hole is visible in the window of Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge, in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, the day after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

Blood stains were visible on the sidewalk outside of a nightclub in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

A firefighter cleans blood stains off the sidewalk outside a nightclub in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

The scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting near Hush, a hookah lounge, in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Drops of blood remain at the scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

The scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting outside Hush, a hookah lounge, in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

This image provided by WBMA shows police tape near the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)

This image provided by WBMA shows police working on the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)

This image provided by WBMA shows police and emergency vehicles in the entertainment district after a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)

This image provided by WBMA shows bystanders near the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)