Buffalo Bills

Why is Cyrus Kouandjio ahead of Seantrel Henderson on the depth chart?

Published Jun. 18, 2015 9:43 p.m. ET

foxsports

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson has had a forgettable start to mandatory minicamp this week. It started with Henderson being the only Bills player to miss the start of minicamp after having travel issues. Then on Wednesday, he returned to the practice field to find himself demoted to the third team offense.

Despite starting all 16 games last season as a rookie, Henderson was coming into this season having to prove himself once again as he battled with Cordy Glenn and Cyrus Kouandijo for one of the starting tackle jobs.

On Thursday, head coach Rex Ryan explained Henderson's slide down the depth chart so far during the offseason.

"Well, I think the work that Cyrus has done overall in the offseason probably puts him ahead right now," Ryan said. "But again, the race isn't over by a long shot, so we'll see, Seantrel has got to show that he can handle it, you know, mentally, physically all of it and then get out here. Obviously he's a guy that started 16 games last year so I think competition is going to be good, and you know, Kouandjio has got to show that when the pads come on that he can handle the physical aspect of the game."

The biggest thing that caused Henderson's slide down many teams' draft boards in 2014 was because of character concerns over previous incidents while he was at the University of Miami. Despite missing the beginning of mandatory OTAs, Ryan insisted that the demotion was not a result of him being late to the start of minicamp.

"No, he was in there some with the twos," Ryan said. "He missed the first day, you know with the travel and things. But it is his responsibility to be here and he understands that."

Hopefully, Henderson will get with the program quickly, otherwise he could find himself sitting on the bench to start 2015.

(h/t Syracuse.com)

Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports/Kirby Lee