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…
