What’s the Recent News from the Buffalo Bills Training Camp?
By Ryan Brennan
Tyrod Taylor had his first bad practice in a while as training camp continued on August 18 for Day 15.
It was a very nice and long string of great outings from our — hopeful — franchise quarterback. However, it came to an end on Thursday in the Bills’ last practice before headed to play the New York Giants for their second preseason game.
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His throws were much less accurate on Thursday with a lot of them going wide of his target, he was making terrible decisions, he fumbled a snap and even threw two interceptions on the day. That’s a lot of frustration. Luckily, it’s only one day and what we’ve seen all camp, we have nothing to worry about.
Here’s a name we haven’t discussed in a while: Dezmin Lewis. He had a very nice OTA and minicamp period and received high praise from the coaches heading into training camp. However, he has been in roster jeopardy since the Bills put pads on. He has struggled with his routes, dropped too many passes and is being overshadowed by the crowded receiving core for the Bills. Being young, he could be a good player to develop. There just might be better options, though.
One of those better options has been Jarrett Boykin lately. Including his touchdown vs. the Colts, he had a great outing on Thursday with Sammy Watkins and Greg Salas both on the sidelines. He had two impressive catches that would be tough to make in a real game. One was a diving catch that went for a big gain and the other was almost an interception by Jonathan Dowling until Boykin snatched it out of his hands for another big gain.
Another big day on the receiving end was Nick O’Leary, a tight end currently fighting for a spot on the roster. He has been very, very quiet all of training camp, but came up with about six catches on Thursday during 11-on-11’s. He kept finding a way to get open and even had a red-zone touchdown near the end of practice. He will need a huge preseason on both the offensive end and the special teams end to be considered for a spot, though.
On defense, the big story was still Duke Williams. He continued the momentum he’s had since Aaron Williams went out and made himself known all over the field on Thursday. At this point, with a few more good preseason games, he will be a lock for the roster and the Bills’ top backup for the safeties.
Ed Reed must be doing something right with those defensive backs.
We also saw Marcell Dareus, who is suspended for the first four games of the season, leave practice early after getting his right arm checked. He remained on the sidelines until the end, but was seen with a gigantic bandage on the right arm with what looked to be ice. Hopefully it’s nothing that will keep him out longer than he already is.
Lastly, Eric Striker continues to battle for a roster spot after being signed as an undrafted free agent. He has consistently been decent, but keeps getting buried on the depth chart. Despite all of the injuries, he is still behind Lorenzo Alexander, Byrson Albright, and Kroy Biermann on the depth chart. He has shown a strength in stopping the run, so he could be valuable to keep — especially being a rookie and having a lot of time to develop.
The Buffalo Bills will play the New York Giants on Saturday at 4:00 pm for their second preseason game.
Next: 6 Things to Watch For in Giants-Bills Game
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