BillsZone Training Camp Report: 8/16/2011

[Michael82]

 Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery - Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday was the 13th day of Buffalo Bills Training Camp. There are now only 2 open practices left at St. John Fisher College. The players came out on the field wearing full pads and there were several bigs hits for the day. As always, the team worked on their fundamentals in the individual drills, 7-on-7 passing drills, special teams work, and of course the full squad 11-on-11 drill. The defense was the big winner of the day as the offense looked out of sync and struggled badly at pass protection and run blocking.

The day started like any other, the players spend a good amount of time with their individual units and worked on their fundamentals. Following that drill, the players went over to Growney Stadium and worked one some special teams drills. They worked for quite a while on kick returns and several other drills.

After the horn sounded, the players came back over and did some 11-on-11 drills right away, focusing on running plays. Fred Jackson started it off and was stuffed at the line by Dwan Edwards and Nick Barnett. The team then went into the Wildcat formation and Brad Smith ran around the right tackle for 7-yards. On the next play, CJ Spiller ran up the middle and had a big hole by Eric Wood and Kraig Urbik that sprung him for 10-yards. However, he was promptly stuffed at the line on the next play. Johnny White came in with the backups and ran up the middle until he was met hard by Jon Corto. He then gained 3-yards on his second carry. Brad Smith came back in and ran up the middle in the Wildcat for 2 yards. Arthur Moats sniffed it out and tackled him quickly. On the next play, Tyler Thigpen had a sweet pass to Naaman Roosevelt for 35-yards and the touchdown. Brad Smith came back in with the 3rd team and threw to the right of Felton Huggins. Anthony Elzy got the ball next and ran up the middle for 2-yards. Following that, Bruce Hall ran around the left tackle for 3-yards. During that play, C Michael Switzer was blown up by Michael Jasper. Brad Smith finished the series off with a QB keeper for 8-yards and was tackled by Brad Jefferson who pushed him out of bounds and then the horn sounded to end the drill.....

http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archi...rt_8162011.php

[Jan Reimers]

Great report as usual, Mike. Sounds like the D is really doing well.

Don't worry about the O, though. With Levitre demoted and Evans gone, we're bound to get better. (I just couldn't resist.)

[jmb1099]

Awesome job! Great to see you yesterday.

[acehole]

Mike you the man thanks.

 Buffalo Bills Training Camp Gallery - Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday was the 13th day of Buffalo Bills Training Camp. There are now only 2 open practices left at St. John Fisher College. The players came out on the field wearing full pads and there were several bigs hits for the day. As always, the team worked on their fundamentals in the individual drills, 7-on-7 passing drills, special teams work, and of course the full squad 11-on-11 drill. The defense was the big winner of the day as the offense looked out of sync and struggled badly at pass protection and run blocking.

The day started like any other, the players spend a good amount of time with their individual units and worked on their fundamentals. Following that drill, the players went over to Growney Stadium and worked one some special teams drills. They worked for quite a while on kick returns and several other drills.

After the horn sounded, the players came back over and did some 11-on-11 drills right away, focusing on running plays. Fred Jackson started it off and was stuffed at the line by Dwan Edwards and Nick Barnett. The team then went into the Wildcat formation and Brad Smith ran around the right tackle for 7-yards. On the next play, CJ Spiller ran up the middle and had a big hole by Eric Wood and Kraig Urbik that sprung him for 10-yards. However, he was promptly stuffed at the line on the next play. Johnny White came in with the backups and ran up the middle until he was met hard by Jon Corto. He then gained 3-yards on his second carry. Brad Smith came back in and ran up the middle in the Wildcat for 2 yards. Arthur Moats sniffed it out and tackled him quickly. On the next play, Tyler Thigpen had a sweet pass to Naaman Roosevelt for 35-yards and the touchdown. Brad Smith came back in with the 3rd team and threw to the right of Felton Huggins. Anthony Elzy got the ball next and ran up the middle for 2-yards. Following that, Bruce Hall ran around the left tackle for 3-yards. During that play, C Michael Switzer was blown up by Michael Jasper. Brad Smith finished the series off with a QB keeper for 8-yards and was tackled by Brad Jefferson who pushed him out of bounds and then the horn sounded to end the drill.....

http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archi...rt_8162011.php

[TMu11]

Great report.

The more I see the white helmets the more I like them. They look much more crisp

[SeatownBillsFan21]

Is anyone else concerned about Spiller the way that i am?

[Michael82]

Awesome job! Great to see you yesterday.

Thanks! Nice to see you too!

[Jan Reimers]

Is anyone else concerned about Spiller the way that i am?

Yes. I'm just hoping he's not Reggie Bush Lite.

[TigerJ]

I think the issue with Jasper is clearly the upside issue. He's too raw to contribute much of anything in 2011. Do the Bills think he has enough upside to keep him on the roster as a nonproductive player until he's ready to contribute (maybe next year) or do they stash him and hope nobody snatches him off their practice squad. I remember Buffalo did the same thing to Oakland last season with Kellen Heard. That's the other thing. Kellen Heard is also a big D-lineman who has some upside. He's likely a little closer to contributing than Jasper, but what's the difference in upside? Does Jasper have that much more than Heard?

[mysticsoto]

I think the issue with Jasper is clearly the upside issue. He's too raw to contribute much of anything in 2011. Do the Bills think he has enough upside to keep him on the roster as a nonproductive player until he's ready to contribute (maybe next year) or do they stash him and hope nobody snatches him off their practice squad. I remember Buffalo did the same thing to Oakland last season with Kellen Heard. That's the other thing. Kellen Heard is also a big D-lineman who has some upside. He's likely a little closer to contributing than Jasper, but what's the difference in upside? Does Jasper have that much more than Heard?

Physically yes. Jasper is Ted Washington size and I sincerely doubt *ANY* Center in this league is moving him in any direction he doesn't want to go. Heart and technique wise, it's only one game so I don't want to draw conclusions yet, but I thought Heard played his ass off in the Chicago game. He played with alot of heart and was much more visible than Jasper was. At this point, Jasper shouldn't be taking anything for granted. He needs to step it up in the next game and make himself a force to be respected or we may have no choice but to PS him and keep Heard instead.

[Michael82]

I think the issue with Jasper is clearly the upside issue. He's too raw to contribute much of anything in 2011. Do the Bills think he has enough upside to keep him on the roster as a nonproductive player until he's ready to contribute (maybe next year) or do they stash him and hope nobody snatches him off their practice squad. I remember Buffalo did the same thing to Oakland last season with Kellen Heard. That's the other thing. Kellen Heard is also a big D-lineman who has some upside. He's likely a little closer to contributing than Jasper, but what's the difference in upside? Does Jasper have that much more than Heard?

Heard looked really good last week and has had a good camp. But I still think they might keep Jasper and just use him as one of the gameday inactives.

[dog14787]

Photo 63 is an awesome shot Michael, and another great report

What is it about this Brad Smith guy that looks so damn good in a Bills Uni, I really like this guy, what a weapon...

[Michael82]

Photo 63 is an awesome shot Michael, and another great report

What is it about this Brad Smith guy that looks so damn good in a Bills Uni, I really like this guy, what a weapon...

Photo 63? What's so special about that one?

[BLeonard]

I think the issue with Jasper is clearly the upside issue. He's too raw to contribute much of anything in 2011. Do the Bills think he has enough upside to keep him on the roster as a nonproductive player until he's ready to contribute (maybe next year) or do they stash him and hope nobody snatches him off their practice squad. I remember Buffalo did the same thing to Oakland last season with Kellen Heard. That's the other thing. Kellen Heard is also a big D-lineman who has some upside. He's likely a little closer to contributing than Jasper, but what's the difference in upside? Does Jasper have that much more than Heard?

They pretty much did that last year, with Aaron Maybin... I assume the Bills think he has enough of an upside, otherwise, they wouldn't have drafted him. He was a 7th rounder, so it's not like he's eating up a bunch of cap space (which we already have around $20 million of).

I think I'd put him on the 53 man roster, to make sure someone else doesn't snatch him up... You can then either just not make him active on gameday or, get him in games if a blowout is in progress. Hell, I'd even consider lining him up over center on FG and PAT attempts, just to see if he can blow a hole in the middle of the O-Line.

-Bill

[TigerJ]

They pretty much did that last year, with Aaron Maybin... I assume the Bills think he has enough of an upside, otherwise, they wouldn't have drafted him. He was a 7th rounder, so it's not like he's eating up a bunch of cap space (which we already have around $20 million of).

I think I'd put him on the 53 man roster, to make sure someone else doesn't snatch him up... You can then either just not make him active on gameday or, get him in games if a blowout is in progress. Hell, I'd even consider lining him up over center on FG and PAT attempts, just to see if he can blow a hole in the middle of the O-Line.

-Bill

Well, with Maybin there was also the issue of where he was drafted. If you draft a player in the first round, you do it because you think he's going to be a really good player, but once you've done it it's really hard to admit you were wrong. Buffalo's coaches may have begun to see a year ago that Maybin really wasn't going to make it, but you just don't cut a first round pick in his second training camp. Teams don't have any such qualms about seventh rounders. With Jasper, it's purely a question of how much upside he has.