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PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams has decided to take a rather curious approach with his club this camp, an approach every player in the NFL will be praying proves successful.
Williams has dangled the proverbial carrot in front of his team and they've turned it into a golden opportunity. Buffalo, despite lurking in what may be the league's toughest division, has cut its workload to a minimum. Two-a-days practices be gone!
Drew Bledsoe and the Bills are having a different camp experience.(Getty Images)
They have had three two-a-day practices and Williams says the team will no longer suffer through the grueling and taxing normal camp procedure.
"Do you know how unbelievable this is?" said Pro Bowl DT Sam Adams. "Tell your boys around the league about this. Rub it in a little. It's smart and I bet you next year other teams will start to do this more and more. There are too many injuries in camp and too many incidents with the heat. We appreciate what Coach Williams has set for us."
During the first day of practice for the Giants, 10 or so players suffered from heat exhaustion, and many had to get extensive IVs before or after the session. The Jaguars have had two players, John Henderson and Larry Smith, suffer through scary situations as the result of the brutal Jacksonville heat.
The Bills? They're doing everything they can to ensure their players remain fresh and ready for the start of the season. No news could be more delightful to the ears of the team.
"I told these guys if we had full attendance at the offseason workouts and the OTAs (offseason practices) and we could get enough installed, I would consider going once a day in camp," said Williams. "They have really busted their butts this offseason. Not only did I do this to entice them, but reward them as well. We had four guys miss some time only to be present for the birth of their kids. Otherwise, the whole team was here.
"Now that doesn't mean this is set in stone. If I feel they need more work or if they start to fall behind, there's nothing that says we can't go back to two-a-days. But right now they are fresher, which means they can work harder when we are out there."
Let's get old school here, boys
One guy who stood out at camp was defensive line coach Tim Krumrie. If there is one guy who portrays the perfect "Screw me? No screw you!" attitude that makes a winner it's the former Bengals nose tackle. Krumrie actually offered to put a helmet on to finish up a drill earlier in the week, to which Williams insisted the coach was hardly kidding.
"If we would have let him, I honestly believe he would have done it," said Williams.
Earlier in the year, Krumrie offered to wrestle each of his linemen, one after the other, as a way to "bond." Each unit was given the chance to do something together. The normal human being would have chosen a movie, bowling, horse races, BBQ, something that doesn't involving smashing a man's face into the mat.
Glaze prediction
I was asked by no less than eight people with the Bills, including Williams and personnel honcho Tom Modrak, for my assessment of this team. They know they could be on the verge of something special, but wanted to hear an outside opinion.
My honest answer?
Personnel-wise the Bills and Dolphins are probably tied for the best in the division, although not by much over the Patriots or the Jets. However, the one X-factor I love about the Bills is their desire to be nasty. They brought in Adams, who is as difficult to move on the inside as anyone in the league, and LB Takeo Spikes, who should receive the star treatment he has long deserved. But it's the nastiness I love. Pat Williams, Adams, Aaron Schobel, Spikes, London Fletcher can all be very nasty together.
Williams and Adams alone are enough to make an entire offensive line wish that chop blocks were legal. Fletcher is as nasty a player in the middle as there is in the league. He talks a heck of a game but does all the little cheap, rough stuff I love that ticks off opponents.
In addition, former All-Pro CB Pat Thomas, the Bills secondary coach, is in charge of one of the most talented yet unheralded units in the league. Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements and the addition of the very underrated Izell Reese from Denver should reap the benefits of a tough front seven.
If there is one concern on this team it is the pass rush. They are banking on former Buc Marcus Jones to return from injury and start at LDE, but he's still not allowed to go full bore on every down. Even when healthy nobody knows if they'll get the beast version or pussycat copy of the massive-framed Jones. The team is currently considering using another solid free-agent signee, Jeff Posey, as the nickel rusher.
Willis who?
Offensively, Travis Henry looked terrific. While he has been in the swirl of controversy after the team drafted Willis McGahee with its first-rounder, Henry came into camp in phenomenal shape. In fact, Williams went so far as pointing out that Henry seemed a step faster than everyone else on the field and said he saw it in his players' reactions. While McGahee remains unsigned, it was a situation where nobody seemed to question much when he would arrive. Such sentiment is far from the norm with a first-round pick.
Camp town rating and other assorted shenanigans
Usually when I hit the road to these small towns my only criteria is that the innkeeper is not wearing a wig and slicing up hot women in the shower.
However, the hotel I stayed at, The Renaissance, is stunning -- not a place I ever believed I'd find in tiny Pittsford, New York. Cher stayed there the night before, which at that point was good enough. It's a gorgeous Marriott property on the Erie Canal with riverboats making stops right in the back of the Inn. Anyone heading up to the PGA Championship should try as hard as they can to get a room in this spot.
There's an awesome BBQ joint in Rochester named the Dinosaur. It's a local legend. Everyone raved about it but I was unfortunately unable to make it there during the proper hours. Instead, I hit the Pittsford Pub, partially owned by golfer Jeff Sluman. Great space, decent drink menu but unfortunately I failed to order anything that blew my socks off. I've begun the trip in a food slump of sorts. One of the greatest parts of traveling from city to city is the taste of small-town cuisine. So far I've had nothing but pub food. But after not eating any carbs for the last month and a half, I'm truly digging beer and pub food.
The drive from Albany to the Rochester suburb got me thinking: How do the folks in this portion of New York and the New York City area vote on things that affect each other? Granted they are considered the same state, but anyone who has ever driven in upstate New York knows that the area has about as much in common with the Big Apple, Long Island and Westchester as Alabama does. We don't have places that boast, "Mo's Truck Motel $15.99 per night" in New York City. They don't have subways packed with people who talk to themselves.
So I, a sportswriter with no apparent positive effect on society, propose that Congress passes a bill to split New York into two separate states. The city folk should not have any effect on how the upstate people live their lives ... and towns with populations of 156 people and 400 cows should not have any effect on the budget of New York City.
Just a thought from an arrogant New Yorker.
Past tour stops: N.Y. Jets | New York Giants
Williams has dangled the proverbial carrot in front of his team and they've turned it into a golden opportunity. Buffalo, despite lurking in what may be the league's toughest division, has cut its workload to a minimum. Two-a-days practices be gone!
Drew Bledsoe and the Bills are having a different camp experience.(Getty Images)
They have had three two-a-day practices and Williams says the team will no longer suffer through the grueling and taxing normal camp procedure.
"Do you know how unbelievable this is?" said Pro Bowl DT Sam Adams. "Tell your boys around the league about this. Rub it in a little. It's smart and I bet you next year other teams will start to do this more and more. There are too many injuries in camp and too many incidents with the heat. We appreciate what Coach Williams has set for us."
During the first day of practice for the Giants, 10 or so players suffered from heat exhaustion, and many had to get extensive IVs before or after the session. The Jaguars have had two players, John Henderson and Larry Smith, suffer through scary situations as the result of the brutal Jacksonville heat.
The Bills? They're doing everything they can to ensure their players remain fresh and ready for the start of the season. No news could be more delightful to the ears of the team.
"I told these guys if we had full attendance at the offseason workouts and the OTAs (offseason practices) and we could get enough installed, I would consider going once a day in camp," said Williams. "They have really busted their butts this offseason. Not only did I do this to entice them, but reward them as well. We had four guys miss some time only to be present for the birth of their kids. Otherwise, the whole team was here.
"Now that doesn't mean this is set in stone. If I feel they need more work or if they start to fall behind, there's nothing that says we can't go back to two-a-days. But right now they are fresher, which means they can work harder when we are out there."
Let's get old school here, boys
One guy who stood out at camp was defensive line coach Tim Krumrie. If there is one guy who portrays the perfect "Screw me? No screw you!" attitude that makes a winner it's the former Bengals nose tackle. Krumrie actually offered to put a helmet on to finish up a drill earlier in the week, to which Williams insisted the coach was hardly kidding.
"If we would have let him, I honestly believe he would have done it," said Williams.
Earlier in the year, Krumrie offered to wrestle each of his linemen, one after the other, as a way to "bond." Each unit was given the chance to do something together. The normal human being would have chosen a movie, bowling, horse races, BBQ, something that doesn't involving smashing a man's face into the mat.
Glaze prediction
I was asked by no less than eight people with the Bills, including Williams and personnel honcho Tom Modrak, for my assessment of this team. They know they could be on the verge of something special, but wanted to hear an outside opinion.
My honest answer?
Personnel-wise the Bills and Dolphins are probably tied for the best in the division, although not by much over the Patriots or the Jets. However, the one X-factor I love about the Bills is their desire to be nasty. They brought in Adams, who is as difficult to move on the inside as anyone in the league, and LB Takeo Spikes, who should receive the star treatment he has long deserved. But it's the nastiness I love. Pat Williams, Adams, Aaron Schobel, Spikes, London Fletcher can all be very nasty together.
Williams and Adams alone are enough to make an entire offensive line wish that chop blocks were legal. Fletcher is as nasty a player in the middle as there is in the league. He talks a heck of a game but does all the little cheap, rough stuff I love that ticks off opponents.
In addition, former All-Pro CB Pat Thomas, the Bills secondary coach, is in charge of one of the most talented yet unheralded units in the league. Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements and the addition of the very underrated Izell Reese from Denver should reap the benefits of a tough front seven.
If there is one concern on this team it is the pass rush. They are banking on former Buc Marcus Jones to return from injury and start at LDE, but he's still not allowed to go full bore on every down. Even when healthy nobody knows if they'll get the beast version or pussycat copy of the massive-framed Jones. The team is currently considering using another solid free-agent signee, Jeff Posey, as the nickel rusher.
Willis who?
Offensively, Travis Henry looked terrific. While he has been in the swirl of controversy after the team drafted Willis McGahee with its first-rounder, Henry came into camp in phenomenal shape. In fact, Williams went so far as pointing out that Henry seemed a step faster than everyone else on the field and said he saw it in his players' reactions. While McGahee remains unsigned, it was a situation where nobody seemed to question much when he would arrive. Such sentiment is far from the norm with a first-round pick.
Camp town rating and other assorted shenanigans
Usually when I hit the road to these small towns my only criteria is that the innkeeper is not wearing a wig and slicing up hot women in the shower.
However, the hotel I stayed at, The Renaissance, is stunning -- not a place I ever believed I'd find in tiny Pittsford, New York. Cher stayed there the night before, which at that point was good enough. It's a gorgeous Marriott property on the Erie Canal with riverboats making stops right in the back of the Inn. Anyone heading up to the PGA Championship should try as hard as they can to get a room in this spot.
There's an awesome BBQ joint in Rochester named the Dinosaur. It's a local legend. Everyone raved about it but I was unfortunately unable to make it there during the proper hours. Instead, I hit the Pittsford Pub, partially owned by golfer Jeff Sluman. Great space, decent drink menu but unfortunately I failed to order anything that blew my socks off. I've begun the trip in a food slump of sorts. One of the greatest parts of traveling from city to city is the taste of small-town cuisine. So far I've had nothing but pub food. But after not eating any carbs for the last month and a half, I'm truly digging beer and pub food.
The drive from Albany to the Rochester suburb got me thinking: How do the folks in this portion of New York and the New York City area vote on things that affect each other? Granted they are considered the same state, but anyone who has ever driven in upstate New York knows that the area has about as much in common with the Big Apple, Long Island and Westchester as Alabama does. We don't have places that boast, "Mo's Truck Motel $15.99 per night" in New York City. They don't have subways packed with people who talk to themselves.
So I, a sportswriter with no apparent positive effect on society, propose that Congress passes a bill to split New York into two separate states. The city folk should not have any effect on how the upstate people live their lives ... and towns with populations of 156 people and 400 cows should not have any effect on the budget of New York City.
Just a thought from an arrogant New Yorker.
Past tour stops: N.Y. Jets | New York Giants
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