Buffalo Bills Training Camp Report: 7/25/2014 (and Photos)

[Michael82]

By Michael J. Thomas


http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/Mikey82_photos/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night/Photo087b_zpsbcc25c4d.jpg

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery - Friday, July 25, 2014 (http://s159.photobucket.com/user/Mikey82_photos/library/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night)
It was the 5th day of Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College. On other hand, it was only the first day of camp for Marcell Dareus who passed his physical and was ready to go. He came out fired up, cheering on his teammates and high fiving them when they made good plays. Head Coach Doug Marrone had the team work on their individual drills, focusing on certain fundamentals, 1-on-1 passing drills, 9-on-9 drills, 11-on-11 drills and even did some 7-on-7 work in the red zone. The team also took time out to work on special teams, particularly kickoffs and field goals.

As always, the team spent about 20 minutes on their individual drills and then stretching. Then they did some 1-on-1 drills. I took some notes from the plays that stood out to me. Scott Chandler made a great catch in the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain on a pass from EJ Manuel. Jeff Tuel continued to impress me with his deep balls when he floated a pass downfield to Mike Williams who caught it in stride for about 40-yards. EJ Manuel then threw a beautiful touch pass to Marcus Easley that he took for the 50-yard touchdown. He then threw a pass to Chris Summers who caught it, but Ross Cockrell knocked it out of his hands. Thad Lewis then threw an ugly pass that was intercepted by Corey Graham. Tuel then threw a pass to Tori Gurley who made a nice catch along the sideline. Thad Lewis then came in and recovered for his earlier interception by throwing a pretty looking 50-yard touchdown pass to TJ Graham. But the one catch that impressed me the most was Sammy Watkins. He stopped on a dime and faked the DB, caught the pass and kept running. The crowd gave him a big cheer for it......CLICK FOR MORE: (http://www.billszone.com/?p=1824)

[Michael82]

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s159.photobucket.com/user/Mikey82_photos/embed/slideshow/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night"></iframe>

[stuckincincy]

By Michael J. Thomas


http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/Mikey82_photos/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night/Photo087b_zpsbcc25c4d.jpg

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery - Friday, July 25, 2014 (http://s159.photobucket.com/user/Mikey82_photos/library/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night)
It was the 5th day of Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College. On other hand, it was only the first day of camp for Marcell Dareus who passed his physical and was ready to go. He came out fired up, cheering on his teammates and high fiving them when they made good plays. Head Coach Doug Marrone had the team work on their individual drills, focusing on certain fundamentals, 1-on-1 passing drills, 9-on-9 drills, 11-on-11 drills and even did some 7-on-7 work in the red zone. The team also took time out to work on special teams, particularly kickoffs and field goals.

As always, the team spent about 20 minutes on their individual drills and then stretching. Then they did some 1-on-1 drills. I took some notes from the plays that stood out to me. Scott Chandler made a great catch in the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain on a pass from EJ Manuel. Jeff Tuel continued to impress me with his deep balls when he floated a pass downfield to Mike Williams who caught it in stride for about 40-yards. EJ Manuel then threw a beautiful touch pass to Marcus Easley that he took for the 50-yard touchdown. He then threw a pass to Chris Summers who caught it, but Ross Cockrell knocked it out of his hands. Thad Lewis then threw an ugly pass that was intercepted by Corey Graham. Tuel then threw a pass to Tori Gurley who made a nice catch along the sideline. Thad Lewis then came in and recovered for his earlier interception by throwing a pretty looking 50-yard touchdown pass to TJ Graham. But the one catch that impressed me the most was Sammy Watkins. He stopped on a dime and faked the DB, caught the pass and kept running. The crowd gave him a big cheer for it......CLICK FOR MORE: (http://www.billszone.com/?p=1824)

..."Back to special teams work. The team uses this time to also give their players a little breather for 5-minutes or so while they explain the blocking assignments and get ready for field goal practice. Dan Carpenter was again perfect on all his field goals, 6-6 with a long of 51-yards. He also kicked several of them way up onto the lift where the camera man is filming. The crowd enjoyed it, but something tells me that camera man did not. Following the field goals, the team spent time on kickoff coverage and blocking assignments. The coaches had the kick returners receive kicks from the jugs machine, while the kickers rested their foot after making several kickoffs earlier in practice. "...

Hard to judge ST other than kickers in camp, IMO. I don't blame the coaching for past performance as much as lack of bench talent. It's been a problem, and I hope they can improve.

[DraftBoy]

Mikey can you give us a ranking of the RB and WR group per what you've seen?

Looks like they are cycling a lot of backs in and out.

[Luisito23]

Mikey, your reports and pics have always been the best!

[stuckincincy]

Mikey can you give us a ranking of the RB and WR group per what you've seen?

Looks like they are cycling a lot of backs in and out.

Just being cautious? Fred has a history of lower leg injury, and reporting of Spiller's irksome problems last season were vague...I don't recall a definite diagnoses ever being voiced.

[DraftBoy]

Just being cautious? Fred has a history of lower leg injury, and reporting of Spiller's irksome problems last season were vague...I don't recall a definite diagnoses ever being voiced.

I think more like they want to see what they have. The way I see it you have a speed guy in Spiller, you have two combo backs in Jackson, and Brown and a power back in Boobie Dixon. Then you have Wingo who is 6'1, 231 and runs 4.45(isn). I think the first four are obvious to make the squad but if Dixon or Wingo shows pass protect ability does that kick Summers off the team and make room for them?

I'm not at camp so I can't speak to that.

[Night Train]

Thanks Mike !

[stuckincincy]

I think more like they want to see what they have. The way I see it you have a speed guy in Spiller, you have two combo backs in Jackson, and Brown and a power back in Boobie Dixon. Then you have Wingo who is 6'1, 231 and runs 4.45(isn). I think the first four are obvious to make the squad but if Dixon or Wingo shows pass protect ability does that kick Summers off the team and make room for them?

I'm not at camp so I can't speak to that.

Any idea if they consider keeping a FB - backfield Guard, these days?

[Fletch]

I think more like they want to see what they have. The way I see it you have a speed guy in Spiller, you have two combo backs in Jackson, and Brown and a power back in Boobie Dixon. Then you have Wingo who is 6'1, 231 and runs 4.45(isn). I think the first four are obvious to make the squad but if Dixon or Wingo shows pass protect ability does that kick Summers off the team and make room for them?

I'm not at camp so I can't speak to that.

Not sure what you mean by combo back regarding Brown, but he and Jackson are two different types of RBs.

Brown, like Spiller, has no significant history of running the ball on 3rd downs or of catching the ball much. Jackson has both.

[Fletch]

Thanks for taking the time to write all these Mike, they're enjoyable and the detail is incredible. It must take quite a bit of time.

Anyway, thanks!

[BillsImpossible]

By Michael J. Thomas


http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/Mikey82_photos/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night/Photo087b_zpsbcc25c4d.jpg

Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery - Friday, July 25, 2014 (http://s159.photobucket.com/user/Mikey82_photos/library/Buffalo%20Bills%20Training%20Camp%202014/07-25-14%20Friday%20Night)



It looks like EJ Manuel is standing on two peg legs.

[DraftBoy]

Any idea if they consider keeping a FB - backfield Guard, these days?

They've kept a FB in Summers the past few years. I think the question is can Dixon/Wingo take it over?

[DraftBoy]

Not sure what you mean by combo back regarding Brown, but he and Jackson are two different types of RBs.

Brown, like Spiller, has no significant history of running the ball on 3rd downs or of catching the ball much. Jackson has both.

Actually in Philly he did show some ability to catch and run. He may have only had 21 career catches but that's on 33 targets in 32 games (some of which he dressed but never saw the field).

In 2013 Bryce Brown was on the field for 115 snaps with the Eagles. 75 of those snaps were running plays that he took the rock. So of the remaining 40 plays he was targeted with passes 13 times or 32.5% of the time. You're not throwing the ball to a guy who can't catch 1/3 of the time he's out there.

And realistically that percentage is probably higher because Philly runs a shared backfield system where he may be out there on a designed run play for another back.

[swiper]

Always nice to here about the guys signing autographs after practice. I was one of those kids at Niagara University, way back, dogging OJ, Fergie, Braxton and coach Saban.

So props to those guys. Especially Dareus for doing the right thing.

[stuckincincy]

:beers:

[BillsImpossible]

Great read, Michael82. Well done.

After reading every word, I have one question

Which quarterback looks the most comfortable throwing in the pocket?

[The last buffalo fan]

Mike, excelente trabajo. Now get back here and answer the damn questions, you lazy ..... never mind, Gracias!!! :beers: