Bills Practice Roundup: Hey, Look! A Pass Rush!

According to reports from Buffalo’s practice Monday afternoon, the Buffalo pass rush was very effective in creating problems for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills’ offense. Shawne Merriman, Alex Carrington, Danny Batten, Spencer Johnson, and undrafted rookie Robert Eddins all recorded “sacks” (you don’t actually hit the QB in camp) Monday.

Of course, Buffalo’s traditionally awful pass rush having so much success begs the question: are the Bills actually developing pass rushers or does the offensive line just suck? Well, that’s what Chan Gailey is wondering as well:

“I’ll have to go watch the film to get the real story, but obviously our pass protection we just collapsed a few times and you can’t have that,” he said. “We’ve got to let our quarterback stand back there and throw the football.”

Translation: “Our offensive line blows.”

In other news:

– Less than a week into his Bills career, Brad Smith is apparently already being used in all sorts of crazy ways. He’s taking shotgun snaps, lining up in the slot, being used as a decoy…the man’s everywhere. I’m pretty excited to see how the Bills end up actually using him.

– It appears the Bills are really trying to get more out of Lee Evans this season. Rather than just being left out wide and being ignored, Evans is lining up in the slot as well. I certainly applaud the move. There was no excuse for Evans to get as few receptions as he got last season.

– Defensive tackle Torell Troup has apparently been playing very well in camp… so naturally he suffered an injury Monday. It’s a hand injury, and no details have emerged as to its severity. Let’s hope it’s not serious. Troup improving and playing well would be a huge boost to a defense desperate for some run-stuffing linemen.

– My boy Johnny White, the rookie running back from North Carolina, has been looking good in camp. Joe Buscaglia of WGR550 writes, “White displays very good vision in his runs. He has the knowledge on how to set up a block, and he’s very good at cutting back. He did that on a few different occasions on Monday.” There’s room on the Johnny White bandwagon: jump on now.

– Roscoe Parrish, Chris Kelsay, and Antonio Coleman all missed practice Monday with minor injuries. Also still not practicing Monday were Justin Rogers, Donald Jones, Drayton Florence, Kelvin Sheppard, Kellen Heard, Demetrius Bell, Marcus Easley, and Shawn Nelson.

– Fights! Fights! Fights! Undrafted rookie DE T.J. Langley got into his second scuffle of camp, getting into a straight-up brawl with another undrafted rookie, guard Isaiah Thompson. Probably not the best way to make the team, guys. A couple of veterans also got into a bit of tiff, with C Geoff Hangartner and DT Lionel Dotson also having it out. Hangartner drove Dotson to the ground on a block, and Dotson did not approve. I’ll let BuffaloBills.com describe the rest:

"Dotson didn’t appreciate that and got up swinging. Hangartner never threw a punch, but just calmly kept him at arm’s length with his hand on Dotson’s facemask. After Dotson had thrown about six punches, Hangartner had enough and ripped Dotson’s helmet off and may have used it against him had the other players not stepped in to break things up."

Good to see there’s a lot of team spirit.

The Bills are off Tuesday and return to practice Wednesday night.