By Michael J. Thomas

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery – Monday, August 13, 2012

It’s hard to believe, but Monday was Day 14 at Buffalo Bills Training Camp. There is only one more practice to go. The team spent extra time working on red-zone drills, plus the usual 1-on-1′s, 7-on-7′s, 11-on-11′s and special teams drills. Coach Gailey gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a bit of a break on Monday as he had only the two backups work on the 7-on-7 drills. The team also practiced the 2-minute drill and the offense was successful both times, scoring two touchdowns to end the day.

As always, the team started out working on fundamentals with their position coaches. This time, the offense worked on Growney Stadium, while the defense worked on the Polisseni track and field complex. The players spent about 15 minutes working with their position coaches, until they all came onto the main field for special teams work. John Potter was the only one used for kicking the ball off and he did a good job. The kick returners were Leodis McKelvin, CJ Spiller, Brad Smith and TJ Graham. Spiller had the best return, showing off his speed on his return. Although, Smith had a good return too. Following the special teams work, the team spend time doing passing drills. It wasn’t the usual 7-on-7 yet, but they worked on a 5-on-4 and 4-on-4, focusing on 1-on-1 matchups. The team spend about 5 minutes on this drill and then finally the real fun began, the 7-on-7 drill.

Coach Gailey let Ryan Fitzpatrick skip the drill as the focus was on the backup competition. Vince Young started off with a 10-yard pass to Donald Jones and then hit Scott Chandler for 7-yards. He finished the series off with a 6-yard pass to Derek Hagan. Tyler Thigpen came on the field next and hit Scott Chandler for 8-yards. He then threw a nice pass to Derek Hagan for 30-yards. On the final play of the series, Thigpen overthrew Stevie Johnson. Vince Young came back onto the field and connected with TJ Graham for 9-yards and 8-yards. He then hit Kamar Aiken for 7-yards. On the next play, Young threw a screen to Lee Smith for 3-yards. He then found Ruvell Martin for 10-yards. On the final play of the series, Young connected with Fendi Onobun for 11-yards.

Tyler Thigpen came back onto the field and hit Stevie Johnson for 6-yards. He then found Derek Hagan for 12-yards. On the final play of the series, Thigpen connected with Stevie Johnson for 8-yards. Vince Young came back on the field and found Scott Chandler. He then threw the ball at CJ Spiller’s feet. On the final play of the series, Young saw David Nelson and threw it his way, but Leodis McKelvin broke it up. Tyler Thigpen came back once more and connected with Kamar Aiken for 20-yards, and 5-yards. He then hit Naaman Roosevelt for 6-yards. On the next play, Thigpen threw a nice 30-yarder to TJ Graham. He then hit Derek Session for 7-yards. On the final play of the drill, Thigpen was almost picked off by Nick Sukay who made a great play on the ball, but couldn’t hang onto it.

Following the 7-on-7 work, the team spent more time on special teams. This time, Coach DeHaven had the players work on onside kicks and also squibs. The goal seemed to be for the hands team to work on recovering the onside kick and catch it right away. Scott Chandler started it off with a nice catch that didn’t quite go 10-yards. Lee Smith caught the next one in the middle of the field and Kelvin Sheppard caught one too. On the next play, both Scott Chandler and Brad Smith, who was the kick returner were going after the ball and almost collided. John Potter also had a fake onside squib kick that Brad Smith caught, but bobbled.

Following the special teams drills, the team went to work on the 11-on-11 drills that everyone comes to see. There were referees watching the practice and they ended up throwing several flags in the drill, including on the first play where Fred Jackson ran up the middle for 4-yards. I’m pretty sure someone on the line was flagged for a false-start. Ryan Fitzpatrick then overthrew Donald Jones. On the next play, Fitzpatrick saw Jones again, this time, connecting for 8-yards. He then hit Stevie Johnson for 16-yards. CJ Spiller got the ball next and was tackled by George Wilson for a short loss. He then ran behind Andy Levitre who made a great block to spring him for 10-yards. On the next play, Tashard Choice came in with the backups and ran around the right tackle, bursting to the outside for 14-yards. Vince Young then felt some pressure from Prince Miller, who came in on a blitz and forced Young to throw an incomplete pass. He then hit Naaman Roosevelt for 9-yards, but there was another flag on the play. On the next play, Johnny White ran around the right tackle for 12-yards. Young then connected with David Clowney for 18-yards. On the final play of the series, Tashard Choice took a direct snap and ran up the middle for 7-yards.

Johnny White then ran around the right tackle for 8-yards. Tashard Choice got the ball next and ran up the middle for 11-yards. On the next play, Thigpen would have been sacked by both Kyle Moore and Robert Eddins who came flying into the backfield. White carried the ball again and this time ran up the middle for 6-yards. Zach Brown then carried the ball, but was stuffed up the middle. On the final play of the series, Thigpen overthrew Brown. The starters came back on the field and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a screen to CJ Spiller for 3-yards. He then threw a nice looking 35-yard pass to Donald Jones. On the next play, Fitzpatrick had a miscommunication with Jones and the ball went incomplete. CJ Spiller got the ball next and ran up the middle for 4-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick felt pressure from Nigel Bradham, who flew into the backfield, and he threw it away. On the final play of the drill, Fitzpatrick connected with David Nelson for 9-yards. The horn sounded and the team went to work on some more special teams. This time, they worked on punt returns as they caught “punts” from the jugs machine. The main punt returners were Leodis McKelvin, CJ Spiller, TJ Graham and Naaman Roosevelt.

Following the special teams work, the team went back to work on 11-on-11 drills. This time they worked in the red zone. Fred Jackson started it off, but he was stuffed at the line by Mario Williams. Ryan Fitzpatrick then hit Donald Jones for 10-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick connected with Derek Hagan for a 15-yard touchdown. He then hit Scott Chandler, who dropped the ball. CJ Spiller got the ball next and had a nice run up the middle for 15-yards and the touchdown. Fitzpatrick then hit David Nelson for 12-yards. Tashard Choice then ran up the middle for 2-yards, until he got whacked by Da’Norris Searcy. On the next play, Choice tried running up the middle again, but this time Kirk Morrison crushed him and he fumbled the ball. Nigel Bradham recovered the fumble and ran the other way as the defense cheered on the sidelines.

Tyler Thigpen came onto the field next and hit TJ Graham for 8-yards. He then found Dorin Dickerson for 5-yards. On the next play, Thigpen connected with David Clowney for 7-yards. Thigpen then had a miscommunication with Naaman Roosevelt and the ball fell incomplete. The starters came back and Fred Jackson ran up the middle, until he was shoved down hard by Mark Anderson. On the next play, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pass to Stevie Johnson, but he couldn’t catch it. However, he made up for it right after that with a 15-yard catch. CJ Spiller then ran up the middle for 6-yards. But on the next play, he tried to get around the left tackle and the play was sniffed out by both Leodis McKelvin and George Wilson who tackled him. On the final play of the series, Fitzpatrick hit Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown.

Tashard Choice then ran up the middle for 4-yards. On the next play, Thigpen threw the ball at TJ Graham’s feet. He then threw to David Clowney, but it was ruled out of bounds. On the next play, Thigpen connected with Marcus Easley for a 10-yard touchdown. Johnny White got the ball next and ran around the right tackle for 5-yards. Thigpen then hit Kamar Aiken for 7-yards to finish the series. CJ Spiller led the next series off with a very nice looking 15-yard run up the middle. Fitzpatrick then hit Donald Jones for 15-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick overthrew Jones. He then connected with Lee Smith for a 10-yard touchdown and followed it with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Scott Chandler. On the final play of the drill, Fitzpatrick threw a screen to CJ Spiller for a 5-yard touchdown.

After the horn sounded, the team moved down the field and worked on the 2-minute drill. The ball was placed on their own 30-yard line and each group of the players (#1 and #2 teams) got a chance to run the 2-minute drill with only 1:20 on the clock. Vince Young started the drill off with a pass to TJ Graham, but it was broken up by Isaiah Green. On the next play, Thigpen hit Ruvell Martin for 25-yards. He then went back to Martin for a quick 3-yards. Thigpen then overthrew Naaman Roosevelt on 2nd down. On the next play, Thigpen connected with TJ Graham for 5-yards. He then found Roosevelt for 12-yards on 4th down to move the chains. Young them spiked the ball to stop the clock. On the final play of the series, Young threw a beautiful 25-yard pass to Ruvell Martin for the touchdown and had 17-seconds left on the clock.

Next up was the starters. Ryan Fitzpatrick started it off with a pass to CJ Spiller that he took down the field for 30-yards. He may have gone even farther if it was a real game. Fitzpatrick then hit Scott Chandler for 10-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick connected with Spiller again, this time for 6-yards. On the next play, Spencer Johnson batted the ball down at the line. Fitzpatrick then found Donald Jones for 16-yards. He then hit Stevie Johnson, who ran the ball 7-yards until he was tackled at the 1-yard line by the defense. Fitzpatrick then spiked the ball to stop the clock on 2nd down. However, on 3rd down Kraig Urbik had a bad snap that went past Fitzpatrick and he recovered the ball at the 15-yard line. The clock kept ticking and it was 4th down, but Ryan Fitzpatrick calmly led the offense to the line and the ball was snapped with 1 second to go. Fitzpatrick then fired the ball straight to Scott Chandler for the 15-yard touchdown to end the day.

Extra Points:

1. Vince Young had his best practice since Training Camp began. He did a great job in the 2 minute drill and also connected on several good passes in the 7-on-7 drills and the 11-on-11 drills. I was impressed with how poised he looked at commanding the team down the field in the 2-minute drill. It was great to see.

2. Ryan Fitzpatrick got the day off from the 7-on-7 drills, but still did a very good job in the 11-on-11 drills and showed how well he could handle the pressure at the end of the 2-minute drill. He also had several touchdowns during the red zone drills.

3. I don’t know if it means anything or not, but Marcus Easley saw hardly any time on the field. He was losing reps to both Ruvell Martin and David Clowney and appears to have slid down the depth chart a bit. I’m a little surprised by this, because he’s had a pretty good camp. I’m wondering if it has something to do with his last game. He didn’t do much of anything.

4. Tashard Choice was targeted by the defense. I’m not sure what he did to them, but those two big shots from Searcy and Kirk Morrison were pretty hard and the crowd groaned as you heard his pads pop. I’m betting it may have something to do with all the chirping that he usually does as he’s shredding the defense.

5. I said it in one of my earlier camp reports, but now I really believe it. Watch out for John Potter. He’s the only one that took reps in the kickoff drills and did a good job. If he can continue to do what he did in the first pre-season game, I have no doubt that Potter will make the team as a kickoff specialist and may take someone like Ruvell Martin or even Dorin Dickerson’s roster spot.

6. Props of the day go to Ryan Fitzpatrick. He spent at least a half hour after practice signing autographs and taking photos with the fans. I was impressed with how happy he looked as he posed for the photos and was even joking around with several fans. I’m sure he made a lot of people happy.

Overall, it was a good day at St. John Fisher. The weather started out dark and dreary, but it ended up being a great day outside and the sun was shining for the last afternoon practice of the year at Pittsford, NY. The action on the field was a little slow, but it was nice to see the offense clicking in the 2-minute drill and it was much better than earlier in camp when they ended the drill with interceptions.
Discuss this and other topics here…

By Michael J. Thomas

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery – Saturday, August 4, 2012

It was Day 9 at Buffalo Bills Training Camp and a scorcher outside, easily the hottest day since the team arrived at St. John Fisher in late July. The stands were packed, the players were in full pads and fans got to enjoy the first live hitting goal-line work of the year. Coach Gailey gave the players four chances for both the #1 and #2 teams to score at the goal-line and allowed full contact. The team also spent extra time working on red-zone drills, plus the usual 1-on-1′s, 7-on-7′s, 11-on-11′s and special teams drills.

As always, the team started off with a few light paced drills and because of the heat, took it easy at the beginning with a few warm up drills together with their own units. Following that drill, the team worked on fundamentals for special teams, including lining up for a punt and practicing gunner drills. The team did this for a short time and then had both kickers practice field goal kicking. Both Rian Lindell and John Potter tried field goals from 33, 38, 43 and 48 yards and both of them appeared to make them.

The horn sounded at the end of the drill and then the team worked on some one-on-one matchups. I watched the passing drills to see how the wide receivers were doing while missing two of the top receivers in Stevie Johnson and David Nelson. They did alright. Derek Session made one nice catch against Isaiah Green, but then he dropped a couple too. I was impressed with Kamar Aiken on one play where he juked to make Cris Hill miss. Rookie TJ Graham also hauled in a nice 40-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick. But my favorite play was one that Marcus Easley made over Ron Brooks, where he leaped in the air for it and then was hit as he fell to the ground, but he still held onto the ball the whole time. On the negative side for the offense, Leodis McKelvin swatted the ball away from Naaman Roosevelt on one play. But Roosevelt caught the next one later on.

Following the 1-on-1 drills, the safeties, running backs and tight ends joined in for the 7-on-7 passing drill. The team worked in the red zone, as that seemed to be a focus part for the day. Ryan Fitzpatrick started it off with a 12-yard pass to Derek Hagan. He then connected with Donald Jones for 15-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick hit Scott Chandler for 5-yards. He then found Ruvell Martin for 6-yards. Fitzpatrick then had his pass batted down by Aaron Williams. On the final play of the series, Fitzpatrick connected with Chandler again, this time for 8-yards. Tyler Thigpen then came in to lead the backups and overthrew Kevin Brock. He then found David Clowney for 20-yards. On the next play, Thigpen overthrew Ruvell Martin. He then hit Kamar Aiken for 12-yards and followed it with a pass to TJ Graham for 9-yards. On the final play of the series, Thigpen threw a 10-yard pass to Clowney.

Ryan Fitzpatrick came back on the field and immediately connected with Donald Jones for 11-yards and followed that with a 13-yard pass to Jones. He then hit CJ Spiller for 16-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick found Scott Chandler, who catches everything, for 10-yards. He then hit Derek Hagan for 5-yards. On the final play of the series, Fitzpatrick went back to Chandler, this time for 12-yards. Vince Young came on the field next and started out by overthrowing Dorin Dickerson. He then hit Lee Smith for 4-yards and followed that with a 10-yard pass to Derek Session. On the final play of the series, Young found Fendi Onobun for 8-yards. Brad Smith came in next and threw floater to TJ Graham, but he dropped it. On the final play of the drill, Smith thought he had Marcus Easley, but Delano Howell knocked the ball down.

The linemen then came over and the team worked on 11-on-11 drills in the red zone. They started out with the ball on the 15-yard line. Ryan Fitzpatrick started it off with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Scott Chandler. The coaches then moved the ball to the 10-yard line and Fitzpatrick felt major pressure from Mario Williams and threw it quickly to Donald Jones, but he dropped it. It most likely would have been a sack. On the next play, the coaches moved the ball to the 5-yard line and Fitzpatrick hit Jones again, but he was stopped 1-yard short of the goal-line. Tyler Thigpen and the #2 team then got 3 tries to score. With the ball at the 15-yard line, Thigpen underthrew Naaman Roosevelt. He then connected with Roosevelt for a 10-yard touchdown and followed that with a 5-yard touchdown to Roosevelt to end the drill.

After the red zone work, the team went to the other side of the field to spend practicing regular 11-on-11 drills with more room. On the first play, Ryan Fitzpatrick was pressured by Mario Williams and would have most likely been sacked, but he dumped it off to Scott Chandler for 7-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick felt even more pressure from Mario Williams and the Bills defensive line as he was rushed in his throw, which resulted in an incompletion. He then connected with Ruvell Martin for 16-yards. Tashard Choice got the ball next and showed off his speed as he ran up the middle for 8-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick continued to feel pressure from Mario Williams who dominated against Sam Young. This time, Fitzpatrick threw a interception to Stephon Gilmore who then returned it 50-yards for a touchdown. On the final play of the series, Fitzpatrick tucked the ball and ran with it for 10-yards.

The backups came onto the field and Zach Brown started it off by running around the right tackle for 4-yards. Tyler Thigpen then connected with Dorin Dickerson for 23-yards. He then found Kevin Brock, but he dropped the ball. Zach Brown got the ball again and this time was stuffed right at the line. On the next play, Thigpen felt pressure from Alex Carrington and threw an incomplete pass. On the final play of the series, Thigpen hit Ruvell Martin for 15-yards. Vince Young came in next and immediately connected with Derek Hagan for 11-yards. He then felt pressure from Kyle Moore and overthrew Marcus Easley. Zach Brown then tried to run up the middle, but was stuffed for no gain. On the next play, Young connected with Dorin Dickerson for 7-yards. Brown then got one last chance to carry the ball and this time he exploded thru a hole for 10-yards. On the next play, both Sean Ferguson and Jay Ross came in to sack Brad Smith.

The starters came back on the field and Tashard Choice tried to get around the right tackle for 3-yards until he was popped out of bounds by Aaron Williams. On the next play, Mario Williams batted a pass out of the air from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Tashard Choice then got to carry the ball again and this time fumbled it, the ball was recovered by Kelvin Sheppard who returned it for a 45-yard touchdown as Ryan Fitzpatrick chased him down. Fitzpatrick then connected with CJ Spiller for 18-yards. However, on the next play, Spiller was stopped by Shawne Merriman for no gain. On the final play of the drill, Choice burst thru the middle for 16-yards.

During a break from 11-on-11 work, the team spent some more time on special teams. This time they had both Brian Moorman and Shawn Powell work on punting the ball from the 30-yard line and try to pin the punt returners inside their own 20-yard line. Both Leodis McKelvin and Naaman Roosevelt were the punt catchers. Moorman did what he does best and was kicking them 70+ yards every time. He even had one where it went so high in the air and so far that McKelvin had to keep going backwards another 10-15 yards before he finally caught it, then it bounced off his shoulder and he lost the ball. Powell had one where the spiral threw Roosevelt off and he dropped it. I will also add that Powell got better as the drill went on and was eventually pinning the punt returner inside the 10-yard line several times, where Moorman had some touchbacks. Both punters also shanked a few for only 30-yards as they tried coffin corner kicks.

Following the special teams drills, the team went back to work on the 11-on-11. CJ Spiller started it off with a 2-yard run up the middle until he was tackled by Kyle Williams. He then ran around the right tackle, but only gained about 3-yards. On the next play, Ryan Fitzpatrick connected with Spiller for 6-yards. He then hit Donald Jones for 12-yards. Fitzpatrick then saw Spiller down the field and threw a nice 35-yard pass to him. On the final play of the drive, Fitzpatrick hit Ruvell Martin for 7-yards. Tashard Choice got the ball next and ran around the left tackle for 4-yards. Zach Brown then ran up the middle for 8-yards. Tyler Thigpen found Naaman Roosevelt for 6-yards on the next play. He then hit Kevin Brock for 7-yards and followed it with a 3-yard pass to Zach Brown. On the final play of the drive, Thigpen threw a 5-yard pass to Tashard Choice.

Ryan Fitzpatrick came back on the field with the starters and threw a screen to CJ Spiller, but Kirk Morrison snuffed it out for a short gain. He then tried a screen to Donald Jones who gained 5-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick had his pass tipped at the line. He then had a pass broken up by Jairus Byrd. Fitzpatrick then found Marcus Easley, but he dropped the ball. On the final play of the series, Fitzpatrick underthrew Naaman Roosevelt. Vince Young then came in and thought he had David Clowney, but he dropped the ball. Then he tried to connect with Derek Session, but he also dropped the ball. On the next play, Young found CJ Spiller for 14-yards. He then was almost intercepted by Chris White, but he couldn’t quite haul it in. Brad Smith then came in and threw an ugly pass that was almost intercepted by Delano Howell. He then had no open and ended up throwing the ball away.

Coach Gailey then had the team work on one scoring from the 10-yard line. Ryan Fitzpatrick started it out with a 10-yard pass to Derek Hagan for the touchdown. But the coaches weren’t sure if he made it over the goal-line, so they brought the ball to the 1-yard line. CJ Spiller then carried the ball over the goal-line for the touchdown. Tyler Thigpen got his try next and connected with Dorin Dickerson on his pass for a 10-yard touchdown.

To end the day, Coach Gailey allowed the team four live hitting goal-line plays from the 2-yard line. Tashard Choice started it off with a nice 2-yard touchdown right up the middle. However, on the next play, Kyle Williams was in the backfield quickly and then Nick Barnett came flying in and tackled CJ Spiller for a loss. On the third play, Ryan Fitzpatrick tried throw a touchdown pass, but ended up running for 1-yard out of bounds due to no one being open. On the final play of the series, CJ Spiller found a nice hole and burst up the middle for the touchdown. Tyler Thigpen got his chance next and started it off by overthrowing Fendi Onobun on the first play. He then handed it off to Corey McIntyre who powered thru the middle for a 2-yard touchdown. On the third play, Zach Brown was stopped for a short loss by Danny Batten. On the final play of the drill, Corey McIntyre was stuffed up the middle, short of the goal-line.

Extra Points:

1. Mario Williams is a stud! I’m so excited about watching him in real live game action this Thursday. I have a feeling we’ll see at least 1 sack from him. If I’m RG3, I’d be a little nervous about stepping onto the field this week. Mario Williams seems like a man on a mission right now. If Fitzpatrick wasn’t wearing a red jersey, I have no doubt that he would have been knocked out several times already.

2. Look out for Tashard Choice. I’ve seen some depth charts that people have made where they selected Johnny White as the #3 Running back on the roster. I don’t see it. Choice has had a great camp so far and has really showed off his speed. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do this week against the Redskins.

3. Aaron Williams may be finally getting it. Saturday was his best day at camp. He knocked a couple passes down and he had great coverage on his receivers. Sure he played against some lesser talent than earlier in camp with both Stevie Johnson and David Nelson out, but he still made some plays. Hopefully that will help him mentally get back to what we saw glimpses of last year.

4. Scott Chandler will be a major part of the offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick uses him like a security blanket and I don’t blame him at all. At 6’7, 260 lbs, he’s a huge target in the middle of the field and he had very good hands. I’m sure he will be used in the red zone quite a bit.

5. I said that there is no punting competition, but I might be wrong. Shawn Powell is not going down without a fight. He did shank a couple, but he seemed to get better as he gained more confidence and did a great job pinning the punt returners inside their own 10-yard line a few times. I’m curious to see how he looks at the Ralph this Thursday.

6. Props go to all the Buffalo Bills fans (#BillsMafia) that came out to watch practice in that sweltering heat. It was in the mid 90′s and with the humidity, felt like it was 100 degrees outside. Yet, there had to be over 2,000 people in the stands. It was impressive.

Overall, it was a great day at St. John Fisher. The action on the field was enjoyable and the live tackling drill at the end was a nice bonus. It made me really excited to see what this defense can do in a real game. I can’t wait til Thursday when the team plays at the Ralph against the Redskins! Discuss this and other topics here…

By Michael J. Thomas

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery – Tuesday, July 31, 2012

After having a well deserved day off, the players were back on the field at St. John Fisher for Day 5 at Buffalo Bills Training Camp. The players practiced in shoulder pads and shorts, so there was some minor hitting, but nothing major. The team spent time working on a lot of fundamentals, spending extra time in the individual units. They also did special teams drills, 7-on-7 passing drills, which focused on the short/intermediate passing and the 11-on-11 full team drills.

For a change of pace, the offensive players practiced on the new grass field, while the defense worked on the Polisseni track and field complex in front of the fans. The players worked on their fundamentals for a while and then the team went to work on some special teams drills.

For special teams, the Bills worked on several different things. They had the players work on different blocking assignments and do it in a line. The coaches also had the punters practice kicking the ball to the three returners, CJ Spiller, Leodis McKelvin and Naaman Roosevelt. Following the punt team drills, the kickers got a chance to show their legs off to the crowd. Both Rian Lindell and John Potter tried field goals from 45 yards, 49 yards, 55 yards and 59 yards. Potter nailed them all and his 59-yard field goal sailed right thru the middle. Lindell hit the upright on the 55-yard field goal and appeared to be a bit short on the the 59-yard field goal.

Following the special teams work, the team went to work on 1-on-1. I watched some of the 1-on-1 work with the receivers and the cornerbacks. Both Tyler Thigpen and Vince Young spent time with the wide receivers, while Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brad Smith worked with the running backs and tight ends. Prince Miller and Isaiah Green both had pass breakups. On the offensive side, Vince Young had a beautiful 30-yard pass to Donald Jones, but he also overthrew Naaman Roosevelt on an earlier passing play.

After the horn sounded, the team went to work on the 7-on-7 passing drills. This time, it seemed to be focused mainly on short and intermediate passing routes. Ryan Fitzpatrick started it off with a 6-yard pass to Scott Chandler. He then connected with Stevie Johnson for 12-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick hit TJ Graham for 20-yards. He then found Lee Smith for 4-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick had his pass batted down by Aaron Williams. For the final play in the series, Fitzpatrick completed a 14-yard pass to Dorin Dickerson. Tyler Thigpen then came out with the backups and found TJ Graham for 9-yards. He then dumped the ball off to Tashard Choice for 7-yards. On the next play, Thigpen hit Naaman Roosevelt for 11-yards. He then found TJ Graham for 6-yards and followed it up with a 7-yard pass to Roosevelt. On the final play of the series, Thigpen connected with Ruvell Martin for 5-yards.

Ryan Fitzpatrick came back onto the field with the starters and hit Stevie Johnson for 6-yards. He then went back to Stevie, but he dropped the ball. Fitzpatrick then connected with CJ Spiller for 7-yards. He then hit Donald Jones for 5-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick had a beautiful pass to Derek Hagan which would have gone for a 55-yard touchdown after burning both Da’Norris Searcy and Nick Barnett. However, Searcy made up for it on the next play by intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick. Vince Young came on the field next and found Marcus Easley, but he dropped it. He then connected with TJ Graham for 7-yards. On the next play, Young dumped the ball off to Chris Douglas for 6-yards. He then threw a nice looking pass to Derek Session for 35-yards. However, on the next play, Young was almost intercepted by Tank Carder who jumped in front of the receiver, but he couldn’t hang onto the ball. On the final play of the series, Young connected with Session again, this time for 16-yards.

The starters came back one final time and Ryan Fitzpatrick started it off by finding Stevie Johnson, but he dropped it. He then connected with Donald Jones for 18-yards. On the next play, Fitzpatrick hit Johnson again but it was broken up by Nick Barnett. He then tried to find Stevie Johnson one last time, but Fitzpatrick underthrew him. Fitzpatrick then hit CJ Spiller for 8-yards. On the final play of the drill, Fitzpatrick saw TJ Graham, but Aaron Williams swatted the ball away.

Following the passing drills, the linemen came to join the team and they went to work on the 11-on-11 drills. To start it off, the team tried something different. They lined up on the 40-yard line and had Ryan Fitzpatrick throw a hail mary into the end zone. It was caught by Ruvell Martin. On the next play, they moved to the 20-yard line and this time Fitzpatrick flicked the ball in the air to Stevie Johnson for the 20-yard touchdown. The team then moved farther down the field and started the 11-on-11 drills. Fred Jackson got the ball first and ran up the middle for 3-yards. He then carried the ball again and made a nice cut to gain 9-yards. On the next play, the defense came swarming in and Ryan Fitzpatrick got nervous and just threw the ball away. CJ Spiller then got his chance and ran around the right tackle, showing his speed as he gained about 12-yards. Fitzpatrick then hit Stevie Johnson for 10-yards. On the final play of the drive, CJ Spiller saw and hole and sprinted up the middle for 8-yards.

The backups came in next and Tashard Choice ran around the left tackle for 2-yards. Tyler Thigpen then tried to connect with Marcus Easley, but he dropped the ball. Thigpen then hit Derek Session for 10-yards. He followed that with a 12-yard pass to Easley. On the next play, Thigpen tucked the ball and ran with it for 15-yards. He then found Ruvell Martin for 7-yards. Vince Young came onto the field to relieve him. He started off by dumping the ball to Tashard Choice, but he dropped it. Then he was about to be crushed by Sean Ferguson, but he used his feet to escape and gained 10-yards. Young then hit Session, but he dropped the ball. Choice then ran up the middle for 8-yards. On the next play, Chris Douglas ran up the middle for 10-yards after a big hole opened up, but Delano Howard was waiting for him and he popped him hard. Douglas then hobbled off the field, hopping on one foot. On the final play of the series, Young threw a pass to David Clowney who burned Isaiah Green and made a great catch for 30-yards.

Ryan Fitzpatrick came back on the field with the starters and had his first pass batted down at the line by Mario Williams. He then overthrew Scott Chandler. On the next play, Fitzpatrick hit Fred Jackson for 8-yards. CJ Spiller then ran up the middle for 10-yards. However, on the next play, Spiller was tackled behind the line by Kirk Morrison who was in the backfield very quickly and read the play perfectly. Spiller then ran around the left tackle for 9-yards to end the drive. The team then started to work on some special teams drills and all of a sudden the horns went off and the PA announcer told all fans to evacuate the camp and get to the buses as there was a thunderstorm right near by. The players then left the field and went inside the gym to finish the rest of practice.

Extra Points:

1. Aaron Williams was my star of the day. Sure, he’s gotten a lot of bad press, but I think he may be starting to turn the corner. He made a few pass breakups and had some pretty good coverage for the most part. It was hard to tell due to having limited 11-on-11 time, but I thought he had a good day.

2. I’ve also been very impressed with TJ Graham. He’s been getting a lot of reps in camp and has shown quick speed and very good hands. I’m surprised at how well he catches the ball. He’s made several big leaping catches and has pretty much caught everything thrown his way.

3. CJ Spiller continues to wow the fans with his speed and had done a good job making cuts and finding the holes. It’s still early, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Spiller and Fred Jackson having almost a 60-40 split or maybe even a 50-50 split. I have also noticed a lot of plays where both boths are on the field and Jackson goes out wide or Spiller does.

4. One of the things that fans have wanted to know about our defense is if we are going to blitz. Edwards hardly ever blitzed. I’ve noticed a bunch of different blitz packages, including the safety blitz and have a feeling we will see the kind of blitzing that many people have been clamouring for.

5. Everyone thinks that Rian Lindell’s job is safe. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not. Sure they gave him a contract extension, but I’m sure there’s an escape clause. John Potter has looked good at kicking field goals and showed at camp today that he has a really good leg. His 59-yard field goal was right up the middle. It will be interesting to watch how much time he gets in the pre-season games or if they just use him for kickoffs.

6. I usually give props to players right here, but instead I’m going to give a big thumbs down to the Buffalo Bills organization for the way they handled the rain today. They evacuated camp when the thunder was heard and sent everyone to the bus stop. The problem was that there were no buses ready, so people were just waiting outside in the pouring rain with the thunder and lightning. Eventually they wised up and directed people back into the merchandise tent and one of the St. John Fisher buildings, but it still took too long.

Overall, it was another good day at Training Camp. It started off as a really steamy, very muggy day, but by the end, it cooled off with a nice breeze and then the sky opened up and it poured outside, ending practice about 45-minutes early. But the team was still able to get quite a bit of work done in the time they had. I have a feeling Wednesday’s night practice will be a lot more up tempo. Discuss this topic here…