Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Halfway Done

It was an off-day for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, August 7th. However, they were back on the field at 10 am on Monday with a couple of fresh faces to look at.

It’s true, the Buffalo Bills training camp is officially halfway through. And yes, we finally got to see our first looks at Sammy Watkins, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus. They also saw Charles Clay return to practice, as well as Jamari Lattimore.

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With the return of these five players, the Bills continue to see new injuries plague the team. In addition to Reggie Ragland, the Bills were also without Cordy Glenn, who was in a boot with an ankle injury, Richie Incognito and Corey White.

Enough with the injuries, though. Let’s make Allen Iverson mad and talk some practice.

For the offense, Monday saw a lot of upside for the starters and especially for the offensive triplet of Tyrod Taylor, LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins. However, there were also a few risky plays made that shouldn’t have even been attempted.

Let’s start with Taylor, who had another efficient day hitting all of his receivers. However, he had one play that really scared everyone watching the play. In the red-zone, Taylor stepped back to throw, but couldn’t find an open receiver. So, he proceeded to run to the end-zone — like he always does. As he neared his destination, he saw a defender in the way and instead of choosing to run out of bounds — IN A PRACTICE — he decided to try and jump over the defender.

It was a bad decision that ended with him being side-swiped and falling to the ground awkwardly. You could hear the gasps in the air and even heard a teammate yell “Ty! What are you doing?” from across the field.

For McCoy, he had a great day both running and receiving the ball. He gave the Bills a chance to see his speed, which he showed to the full degree. McCoy continues to wipe away any doubt as to whether he still has his moves. He even secured a 19-yard catch from Taylor, as well as another catch that ended in a touchdown.

McCoy also had a scary moment, though. It was off a run-play designed for McCoy that got stuffed at the defensive front. As he was getting knocked around, IK Enemkpali accidentally knocked him to the ground awkwardly. He didn’t suffer an injury, but didn’t look too excited about the play.

As for Watkins, it was a very good first outing as he came in and proved to the team why he is the No. 1 receiver on this team. After dealing with a broken foot, he seemed his usual self — although he didn’t see a whole lot of reps. In the reps he was given, though, he had no problem beating his opponent and even caught a red-zone, over-the-shoulder touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor.

Now, let’s move to the defensive side of the ball.

Up until Monday, the defensive line had been fairly well in training camp — which is good news considering we were missing two of our starters. On Monday, those two starters — Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus, were suited up. They lined up next to each other, with Adolphus Washington getting a majority of first-team reps with them.

It was interesting to see Washington up there with Dareus and Williams, especially since Corbin Bryant and Jerel Worthy have been having much better training camps. The Bills possibly wanted to see how Washington did with the two, knowing that Bryant already has time with them.

We also saw a very strong day from Lavar Edwards, which was good to see even more added depth to that defensive line.

As for the linebacker position, which took a hit with the Ragland injury, it seems like Jerry Hughes and IK Enemkpali are getting the majority of first-team reps at outside linebacker, while Preston Brown and Zach Brown have been seen inside.

So far, we’ve seen the upside to Zach Brown, as well as the downside. He does a great job in coverage, using his athleticism to stick to running backs and tight ends as they run their routes. However, he seems to struggle with reading the play and getting to that coverage in time. Since he replace Ragland with the weakside linebacker role, he has been seen flat-footed and missing plays simply due to not reacting in time.

Related Story: Training Camp: Days 5, 6 & 7

It was only Zach’s second practice since replacing Ragland, though, so hopefully those problems can get fixed before the regular season. If they can, he can still be a valuable player on this defense.

The Buffalo Bills training camp will continue on Tuesday, August 9th.

How are you feeling about the Bills so far this training camp? Leave your comments below!