Bills may have another training camp battle that fans didn't see coming

The Buffalo Bills are back in practice today up at St. John Fisher University and so far during the first week, there’s been a lot more promise than concerns. The defense has been lighting it up while the offense has been somewhat inconsistent. However, we have seen this story before and all that happens is that Buffalo’s offense clicks during the season while the defense is the inconsistent unit.

A reported hamstring injury regarding Terrel Bernard (per Ryan Talbot) now opens up more reps for other linebackers on the roster.

Obviously we know that Matt Milano and Dorian Williams are pretty much locks to make the final 53-man roster, but the same can’t be said for guys like Joe Andreessen, Shaq Thompson, and Baylon Spector. While fans love the story of how Andreessen made it onto the Bills roster last season, he will have to earn his spot again.

Shaq Thompson is a proven veteran who knows the defense that Sean McDermott likes to run from the days back with the Carolina Panthers. As for Baylon Spector, he’s mostly been a special teams contributor who has been dealing with some injuries during his career.

Bills may have linebacker competition at camp

Early on in the Bills’ Sunday practice, according to Alex Brasky, Spector has been making some strides and has been “trending up” per Brasky. He made a nice interception after a batted ball from Thompson that was thrown to Tyrell Shavers by Josh Allen. Brasky noted that now Spector is healthy, Spector has been impressive.

This may not be the biggest position to worry about, but when you think of the bit of injury history the linebacker position has had for the Bills the past few seasons, the depth is going to be crucial for the Bills. Spector is entering a contract year and he still has an uphill battle to make the roster.

But to see this progress from Spector early on could indicate a true competition throughout the rest of the summer on defense.

More Bills news and analysis: