| July 30, 2007 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 11:59 PM |
Bills Training Camp Gallery Monday, July 30 2007
Here we go! Day 4 of Buffalo Bills Training camp. The players finally came out wearing pads and had some hitting for a change. That was nice to see. They didn't do a lot of hard hits, but this was the first time that full contact was made. This also led to some sloppy play, as the players had to get used to the contact and wearing the full pads. The Bills worked on a bunch of 11-on-11 drills and also some more special teams drills, along with the usual 7-on-7 and individual drills.
Just like always, the Bills started off with the special teams work. They worked on punt coverage and punt return technique. Bobby April spend the time explaining the different positions that they should be in during the return and also worked with a couple guys on their footwork. After the horn went off, the players worked on goal-line formations without helmets. They didn't wear the shoulder pads either, as there was no contact. The drill is basically used to warm up and work on the different play calls at the line and have everybody be in their positions. The full team stretches were done immediately after this drill.
The hard work began right away as the team worked on the no-huddle drill in the 11-on-11. Shaud Williams was the starting back for this drill and got all of the carries. JP Losman started off right away by hitting Lee Evans near the sideline for about 6-yards. Shaud Williams ran up the middle next for 4-yards. Losman then threw another pass to Evans, this time for 14-yards. However, JP Losman overthrew Lee Evans on the next play. Shaud Williams got another chance to carry the ball and ran left guard for 7-yards. However, he was stuffed on the next play by John McCargo. Losman finished off the drill by finding Evans again, but there was good defensive coverage that forced the incompletion. The players then went to work on their individual drills.
Following the individual drills, the team merged back together again for a full 11-on-11 drill. This time the focus went from mixed passing and running to strictly running the ball. Anthony "A-Train" Thomas got the ball first and ran up the middle for 4-yards. He then ran around the right tackle for 18-yards. He finished the drill off with a run behind the left guard and had a gain of 5-yards. Marshawn Lynch was up next. He ran around the right tackle and gained about 6-yards. Lynch was then stuffed for a short loss on the next play by John McCargo. He finished the series off with a tough run up the middle for 7-yards. Fred Jackson got a chance next and ran for 4-yards. Dwayne Wright then had a couple runs for 4-yards a piece. Shaud Williams had 1 carry and he gained about 5-yards. Marshawn Lynch then carried the ball and was stuffed by Paul Posluszny on the first play, then gained 4-yards on the next carry. Josh Scobey tried running up the middle, but only gained about 2-yards. Dwayne Wright finished the drill off and was stopped by a bunch of the defensive players after a short gain.
Next up was more special teams work. This time Bobby April had the players use what he taught them earlier in practice and actually practice covering and returning punts. The punt returners would receive and "punt" from the jugs machine and the drill was basically just to help the gunners out. Roscoe Parrish, Shaud Williams, Peerless Price, Jonathan "Fast Freddie" Smith, and Donovan Morgan were the returners. Roscoe Parrish was the most impressive out there. He had a couple good returns and showed his speed. Shaud Williams looked kind of slow out there.
The special teams practiced for about 10-15 minutes and then the team went to work on some 7-on-7 passing drills. JP Losman started it off with a 18-yard pass to Lee Evans, who made a great catch. Losman then threw a bullet to Evans for 25-yards. Josh Reed had the next pass thrown his way, as Losman checked off and dumped the ball off for a 4-yard gain. Losman finished off the set with a 7-yard pass to Evans. Craig Nall came in and threw a pass to Marshawn Lynch for about 5-yards. He then found "Fast Freddie" Smith downfield for 15-yards. Trent Edwards came in and hit Marshawn Lynch for a 10-yard gain. However, he was then intercepted by George Wilson who made a great leaping catch! JP Losman came back on the field and connected with Peerless Price for 16-yards, followed by a nice 21-yard pass completion to Lee Evans. Losman went back to Evans for 6-yards on the next play. JP then looked downfield and no one was open, as the secondary had blanket coverage. He instead tried to dump it off to Dwayne Wright, but he Wright wasn't paying attention and looked surprised to see the ball. Craig Nall came back in and found Donovan Morgan for 15-yards. Trent Edwards ended the drill with a couple passes for about 6-yards each. The first one was to Roscoe Parrish, who made a nifty leaping grab and the second one went to Josh Scobey.
The players then switched sides and the offense worked on a red zone drill. JP started it off with a quick pass to Dwayne Wright for 5-yards. Losman then threw a beautiful pass thru the coverage to Robert Royal, who tip-toed into the end zone for the 20-yard touchdown. Losman then started to feel the pressure as the linebackers chased him and would have sacked him in a real game. You could tell that he first thought about running with the ball, as he would have gotten some good yardage, but he told himself not to do it. JP Losman tried to recover with a good play, but overthrew a wide open Lee Evans in the end zone. Losman finished the drill off by hitting Josh Reed for 6-yards, and then finding Marshawn Lynch, but Lynch dropped the ball.
Following the 7-on-7 drills, the team went to their 11-on-11 full team scrimmage. This was when the defense really turned it up a notch and the offense started to struggle. On the first play, JP Losman found Lee Evans downfield and launched the long ball, but Jason Webster had solid coverage and tipped the ball away from Evans and almost had an interception. Anthony Thomas started in this drill and got a carry next. A-Train took the ball and ran behind Derrick Dockery, who opened a huge hole, and would have been gone for the long touchdown. He showed some that he didn't lose his speed and power, like I first thought. JP threw a 8-yard pass to Peerless Price next. He then found Lee Evans, who made another great catch for 19-yards. Craig Nall then came in and found Roscoe Parrish, who made a nice catch near the sideline for 7-yards. Marshawn Lynch then got his first chance to carry the ball and gained about 3-yards. Trent Edwards was next up and threw a bullet to Roscoe Parrish for 12-yards. He then threw a screen to Donovan Morgan for 4-yards.
JP Losman came back in and was against the defensive starters and struggled big time. Right off the bat, JP underthrew Peerless Price. He then felt the pressure from a safety blitz, as Donte Whitner had the sack. Losman tried to recover from that and you could tell he was getting frustrated. He threw an ugly pass over the middle, but Angelo Crowell read it like a book and intercepted the ball. Crowell ran the other way with it and had the easy touchdown. Trent Edwards came in and worked with the starters and backups and found Peerless Price downfield, but Price dropped it. Edwards then changed the play at the line after looking at the coverage and hit Jonathan Smith for an 8-yard gain. Jabari Greer and George Wilson blanketed Donovan Morgan on the next play and forced an incomplete pass. Craig Nall came in for one play and found Scott Mayle for 7-yards. After this, the players switched sides of the field and worked on the red-zone offense again. Dwayne Wright had the first carry and was met in the backfield by Kyle Williams for a short loss. Marshawn Lynch came in and ran around the right tackle for 3-yards. JP then decided to throw a pass and hit Josh Reed right in the hands, but Reed dropped it! He went right back to Josh Reed on the next play, but this one was too low, and Reed couldn't hang on. The defensive play of the day came up next as John McCargo came into the backfield and destroyed Josh Scobey for a loss of 5-yards. Losman then redeemmed himself on the final play of this drill when he floated a 10-yard pass to Josh Reed for the touchdown. The horn sounded the end of that drill and the team went back to work on some more special teams stuff. They continued to spend time on punt coverage and returns.
The Buffalo Bills went back to the 11-on-11 drills one last time. This time they focused solely on passing. JP Losman had Peerless Price let him down again, he he hit Price in the hands, but the ball was dropped. Losman then threw an ugly pass that was tipped by John DiGiorgio and intercepted. JP went back to his comfortable target right after that and found Lee Evans for 7-yards. However, he felt the pressure on the next play and threw a bad pass towards the defender. This time JP got lucky as John DiGiorgio couldn't quite get hold of the ball. Losman made up for that by hitting Josh Reed right in the numbers for 17-yards. But he overthrew Roscoe Parrish right after that. Craig Nall came in to stop the bleeding and hit Donovan Morgan, who made a great catch with his hands, for 9-yards. Losman then got one last crack at it and threw a screen to Roscoe Parrish, who didn't get anywhere as Jim Leonhard read the play perfectly and tackled him at the line. He did go back to Parrish again, and this time connected for a 13-yard gain. Trent Edwards finished the ugly drill off by underthrowing Jemalle Cornelius.
The team finished the day off by taking the helmets off and focusing on run drills. The drill seems to be a goal-line drill with no contact. Anthony Thomas took all the starter reps and did a good job finding the hole. The players then met at midfield for a huddle as Ralph Wilson addressed the team. It lasted about 10 minutes. After he left the field, the veteran players did their stretches and then the rookies, 2nd and 3rd team players stayed and worked on some plays as the vets headed to the locker room.
Extra Points:
1. JP Losman had his worst practice of the year as the defense seemed to frustrate him from the 7-on-7 drills and the last few 11-on-11 drills. He seemed to be very tentative in the pocket and took too long to throw the ball. Once he did throw the ball, the passes were either too low or too high. Something seemed to be bothering him. I'm wondering if maybe his back was hurting him a bit as the practice went on and he was wearing the pads for the first time this year.
2. Our 2nd receiver spot scares the heck out of me. Josh Reed seems to have no rhythm with Losman out there and has developed a major case of the dropsies. Peerless Price is also dropping too many passes and seems to be going with the motions. I'm starting to think we might see Roscoe Parrish at number 2 if this keeps up.
3. John McCargo looked very good out there. He was in the backfield quite a few times and showed good burst at getting to the runner. He also pressure Losman a couple times. Let's hope he can keep this up.
4. John DiGiorgio could be a diamond in the rough. He has been making plays each day and really shined today. I could seem him pushing Posluszny for the starting spot or maybe even Ellison. Either way, Dick Jauron is going to have a very tough job at deciding who to bench. All 3 players have looked pretty good so far.
5. Our secondary doesn't bother me as I believe that McGee and Webster will be a solid duo and will get a lot of help from both Donte Whitner and Ko Simpson, who look even better this year! I'm not sure about Youboty yet. He seems to be very raw.
6. I'm saying this right now...If McNally wants to give the best players a chance to start on the offensive line, he needs to give Brad Butler a chance. I have watched him quite a few times pancake McCargo and some of the other Defensive tackles. He seems to be fighting hard for the job, I just hope he is given a shot!
7. Props go to Robert Royal and Anthony Hargrove. Both players were joking around and chatting with the fans at the fence. They were very personal and kept telling Paul Posluszny, Marshawn Lynch, and Trent Edwards to come to the fence to sign autographs. Seeing how they are rookies, all 3 of them came over. It was nice to see. Also, major props go to Trent Edwards who stayed around for about an hour after practice to chat with fans, and he signed autographs for every single fan at the fence. He even walked to the railing at Growney Stadium and signed a few more before heading to the locker room.
Overall, it was an average day at camp. It was nice to see the pads on and hear the hard hitting, but the offense looked bad. Things were definitely not crisp out there. Let's hope they can fix that on Tuesday night for the first night practice of the year.
