Buffalo Bills Training Camp continued this week with four of their final five practices as they prepare for their second preseason matchup vs. the New York Giants.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of important stuff to go over since our last Buffalo Bills Training Camp recap.
Our last installment was written on Thursday, August 11th — Day 11 of training camp — just before the Bills’ opened their preseason action vs. the Indianapolis Colts in Buffalo. A lot has happened since then.
If you want a quick recap of how the game vs. the Colts went, here are some key links:
There has also been some very important news break since that first preseason game:
So, let’s get into the recent stories from training camp. We have four days to go through, let’s start with Day 12.
Next: Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Day 12
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
Day 13 of Buffalo Bills training camp started at 10 am on Tuesday and saw the return of Manny Lawson to the field.
With all of the injuries to the Bills’ linebacker core, it was nice to see a familiar face out there. Manny Lawson returned to the field on Tuesday and was seen during a walk-through on defense at the right outside linebacker position.
That ROLB position has seen the most hits to injury, IK’s being the most recent. He will replace Lorenzo Alexander, who was given praise by Rex Ryan after their first preseason game. However, Manny Lawson is facing a possible one-game suspension at the start of the season.
Tuesday was also Kroy Biermann’s first day with the Bills and was seen as an outside linebacker. He can be a very valuable piece to this defense, but it was just too early to tell on Tuesday. He was also seen in punt coverage, which if he can at least prove to be effective on special teams, he could snatch a spot on the roster. To wrap up the LB’s, Jerry Hughes had a very good outing and was a constant problem for the offense.
We are also seeing a string of impressive performances by our newly drafted CB Kevon Seymour. With Nickel Robey-Coleman not practicing on Tuesday, Seymour stepped up into the nickel spot and did everything expected of him. As of right now, he has put in a good enough argument to be the backup CB if either Stephon Gilmore, Ronald Darby or Robey-Coleman get injured.
On the offensive side of the ball, we got a good look at how some of the depth chart is stringing out. From the looks of it, the Bills seemed most invested in LeSean McCoy, Jonathan Williams, Karlos Williams and Mike Gillislee as far as running backs go. James Wilder Jr. and Boom Herron were the only ones that didn’t see first-team reps. Keep in mind, Reggie Bush sat out on Tuesday.
For receivers, the Bills were without Greg Salas, Kolby Listenbee and Marcus Easley still, but also saw Dezmin Lewis sit out as well. This opened the door for both Greg Little and Jarrett Boykin. However, Little seemed to be more impressive on this day.
With that being said, it’s important to note how good Tyrod Taylor looked. He seems to be growing more efficient and accurate as training camp progresses, which is a great sign. Even with bad weather conditions on Tuesday, he seemed to be able to hit anyone no matter where they were on the field.
Lastly, I wanted to mention some offensive line issues. It’s known that we don’t have much depth there, but even worse was how bad Jordan Mills was on Tuesday. He was constantly getting beat by Jerry Hughes, which isn’t good for someone who will face much more difficult opponents during the season. He will definitely need to rebound from this one.
Let’s move on to Day 14.
Next: Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Day 14
A lot happened during Day 14 of training camp and it was a healthy mix of good and bad.
Let’s start with the offense because that’s where most of the bad happened.
For starters, after his impressive performance against the Colts, Cardale Jones had quite an ugly practice on Wednesday. The team set up for two-minute drills and only had two of them. The first was given to Tyrod Taylor, but the second was given to Jones instead of E.J. Manuel.
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When Jones took the field, a whole-lotta-nothin’ happened. It started with an incomplete pass to Boykin, followed by a delay of game, another incompletion, a false start penalty and finally a sack on fourth down. After that, E.J. Manuel took over the 2nd team reps for the remaining of team drills.
The other “con” to Day 14 was when a scuffle broke out between WR Walter Powell and CB Ronald Darby off a McCoy-catch play. Powell was blocking for the running back, but quickly got physical and led to flared tempers. Eric Wood was fast to break it up and voice his opinions. This wasn’t a good play for a wide receiver that has been impressing the coaches lately.
Here’s a good story on the offense..
With Cordy Glenn still out with an injury, Cyrus Kouandjio is getting a lot of valuable time to prove his worth to the team. Lately, he’s been taking good advantage of that time and has even earned praise from GM Doug Whaley. At the beginning of training camp, he was having a hard time staying balanced and playing consistently. However, he had a great outing for Day 14 — despite one play where Bryson Albright completely blew by him.
He will bring good depth to the Bills on the left side of the offensive line. Now if we can only figure out that right side.
Now, let’s get to the defense.
Stephon Gilmore is still a beast. With yet another dominating practice, Gilmore continues to do what he needs to do to get that hefty contract. Now, he just needs to put that into a full season. He grabbed his fourth interception since training camp started and almost grabbed his fifth when guarding Robert Woods — an interception that easily could’ve been turned to a pick-six.
Also, Manny Lawson is looking really good since coming back from injury on Tuesday. Biermann was seen with the 2nd-team defense and was picked ahead of Eric Striker, Bryson Albright and Max Valles. He is showing that he could be a great piece for the Bills, especially early in the season.
One more player on the defense that has began to dominate in wake of a teammate’s injury is Duke Williams. With Aaron Williams going through concussion protocol, one of our safeties would have to step up and Duke has been that guy. He showed what he can do in-game vs. the Colts and had his third straight impressive practice on Wednesday. The Bills will likely keep 4 cornerbacks. With Aaron and Corey Graham locked as of now — and adding Duke if he can remain consistent — that leaves one spot between Robert Blanton, Jonathan Meeks and Colt Anderson.
Lastly, Dan Carpenter is continuing his hot streak. The Bills did give him some competition and gave Jordan Gay some chances, though. Both kickers started the day 3/3, but that’s when Carpenter took over. Gay would end up making just two of his next five kicks, while Carpenter hit 5 of his next 6. His only miss was from 45 yards out.
Lastly, let’s get to Day 15.
Next: Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Day 15
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
What are your predictions for the Giants-Bills game? Leave your comments below!
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