The Buffalo Bills training camp gathered once again at St. John Fisher College on Tuesday, August 9th. What’s the word around town?
In our last Buffalo Bills training camp recap — Day 8 — we outlined the return of a few superstars, but watched a few others sit out. With that being said, it was nice to see neither of those a main focus for Day 9.
Sure, losing Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito is a blow for the team, but neither of their injuries should keep them out long. It seems Incognito is still resting and should return soon, although they’re better off playing it safe for now. On the other hand, Glenn will likely miss the entire preseason, but should definitely be suited up for Week 1 vs. the Ravens.
In their absence, we got another good look at how our depth is at the offensive line. We saw more of Cyrus Kouandjio, Ryan Groy and Fernando Velasco without Glenn and Incognito on the field. However, it didn’t look good for the Bills as none of those players seemed ready to fill anyone’s starting spot if an injury occurs down the line. Hopefully they’re just getting rid of the rust, but they’re running out of time.
The injury to Reggie Ragland has been another hot topic lately, but what we saw on Tuesday might make that blow a little easier to deal with for the Bills. Zach Brown, who has struggled since Ragland went down with a partial ACL tear, was a man among boys on Tuesday. There has been doubt surrounding his coverage ability, but showed no problem covering tight ends or running backs on Tuesday. He even recorded a sack when he blitzed up the middle of the line.
In addition to Brown, the other linebackers showed some highlights on Day 9. Most noticeably were the newest additions to the Bills, Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne. Both saw reps on the inside and both had some solid plays that gave the Bills even more hope. Hawthorne, just like Brown, recorded a sack in team drills. We also shouldn’t forget Preston Brown, who recorded an interception near the end of practice.
Speaking of interceptions, the Bills are going to need a lot of those from Stephon Gilmore this season if he wants them to sign him to a long-term contract. So far this training camp, he has shown that his intent is good and added to that on Tuesday with another interception, which came right before Preston Brown’s.
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Lastly, a little update on our offensive attack.
We saw a couple of questionable plays from the offense on Tuesday. Overall, we are still looking pretty solid, but these “questionable plays” seem to continue to add up. On Monday, Tyrod Taylor made one when he tried to jump over a defender into the endzone. On Tuesday, he threw back-to-back interceptions in the red-zone — something you don’t want to see from a quarterback. However, it’s important to note that neither were really his fault.
The first one was redirected when OL Jordan Mills accidentally stepped into Taylor. The second was actually completely Reggie Bush‘s fault, who was most likely trying to show off. Yes, the ball was thrown a bit behind the running back, but usually that means you should try to kill the play. Instead, he tried to flip the ball up to himself. It would’ve been cool if it were successful, instead it led to an easy P. Brown interception.
As for the wide receivers, Sammy Watkins was suited up, but received more of a rest day today after yesterday’s return. On the other hand, Robert Woods caught another red-zone touchdown right after Taylor’s back-to-back interceptions and Marquise Goodwin continues to prove why he’s the best fit as our No. 3 wide receiver. Greg Salas, Dezmin Lewis and Greg Little continue to have good days and bad days, proving to be less consistent as their counterpart.
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Overall, it was a solid day for the Bills which gave us a good look at a lot of the depth we have — or lack of it. The Ragland injury is getting less and less relevant as the days stack up, although we all hope to see him back very soon. As for the offensive line, it seems we should only worry if we hear that we will be without a starter for an extended amount of time. Unless someone starts to step up, it looks like we don’t have a lot of room for injury there.
The Buffalo Bills training camp continues tomorrow on Wednesday, August 10th for Day 10 of 16.
Do you think our backup offensive linemen will figure things out or will we need to be extra careful with our starters? Leave your comments below!