What’s the Recent News from the Buffalo Bills Training Camp?
By Ryan Brennan
Day 12 of Buffalo Bills Training Camp continued on Monday, August 15th following their 19-18 preseason thriller against the Colts.
The Buffalo Bills were back at it as a new week of training camp began. We got a good chance to see how some of our depth responded in a live game, which gave us some things to look forward to — as well as some things to cringe about.
For starters, the Bills didn’t waste time addressing their continued misery at the linebacker core. With injuries to Shaq Lawson, Reggie Ragland, IK Enemkpali and an investigation going on with Manny Lawson, the Bills are becoming increasingly weak at the position. The additions of Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne helped, but even more was needed after the Enemkpali injury last Saturday.
Searching for help, the Bills signed a veteran linebacker on Monday, Kroy Biermann. The news came with the announcements that the team has placed IK on the IR, as well as releasing WR Leonard Hankerson and DT T.J. Barnes.
On Day 12 of training camp we saw that although we might be without our best linebackers, things could still be alright for the Bills. Rex Ryan stated that he has liked Lorenzo Alexander’s play over IK’s and that Alexander would’ve started against the Colts if it weren’t a preseason game. In addition, Eric Striker started to get more reps at practice, but one linebacker seemed to be making the most of his opportunities on Monday: Bryson Albright. He was a constant threat in the backfield and getting sacks, as well as showing good pass coverage when needed.
We are also starting to see how our safeties are going to look on the depth chart. With Aaron Williams going through concussion protocol, it’s another “next man up” situation for the Bills. So far, Duke Williams has taken the most advantage of his absence. He had a solid game vs. the Colts, where he played a physical and smart brand of football. He did a great job of breaking up passes, getting tackles and reading the offense.
On Monday, he saw a lot of first-team reps with Corey Graham. Other players that saw reps were Robert Blanton, Jonathan Meeks and Colt Anderson. The Bills will likely get rid of two of these players.
Other notable performances on Day 12 — for the defense — came from defensive linemen Leger Douzable, Casey Walker and LB Brandon Spikes. They gave us some hope for our depth at those positions.
Switching to the offense, we are starting to see our depth chart get locked in. It seems our top-three wide receivers are decided after the Bills released Hankerson. Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin are expected to carry the load for Tyrod Taylor. Greg Salas has also pretty much secured a spot, but has been injured.
We also saw the return of Karlos Williams Sr., who has been battling weight issues all of this offseason. He practiced with the scout team, while LeSean McCoy and Reggie Bush got first-team reps.
As for the tight end position, we saw the return of Jim Dray — who got first-team reps with Charles Clay and Chris Gragg. So far, Clay and Gragg are locked in, but Jim Dray seems to be the third guy in line. He seems to be valued higher than the other TE’s on the roster by the coaching staff.
The only negative we saw from the Bills’ offense on Monday was the offensive line, which continues to show no depth. Marquis Lucas, Cyril Richardson, Robert Kugler, and Jamison Lalk all had a rough day and spelled trouble for Tyrod Taylor if our OL gets injured.
Let’s move on to Day 13.
Next: Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Day 13