Archives for August 14, 2017

'Speaking of Tate, he made the catch of camp on Sunday. During a Hail Mary drill, Peterman lofted a pass to the end zone. It looked like it was sailing over Tate's head, but he jumped up and reached back for a one-handed catch. It was reminiscent of Odell Beckham Jr.'s famous catch from a few years ago.'

'In the past couple days alone, the Bills have a much different looking wide receiver depth chart. Matthews saw time with the first and second teams during his first practice, more so with the second team. During the scheme install session, Matthews stayed next to wide recievers coach Phil McGeoghan the entire time instead of taking part, asking questions. Mainly seeing time with the first team were Zay Jones and Anquan Boldin. Andre Holmes and Brandon Tate also spelled into the first-team as well. Matthews, Jones, and Boldin all saw time in the slot and outside during formations. Boldin notably stayed inside the most. '

'Matthews finished the two-hour practice on Sunday before being escorted off the field by a trainer. The Bills were unable to provide an update on the nature or severity of the injury because Matthews was still being evaluated.'

'It is unclear when Matthews suffered the injury in Sunday's practice. He finished the session and later left the field with a trainer. He was not made available to reporters because of the injury.'

'Not only did Peterman take No. 2 quarterback reps, he also had a very good practice. He made good decisions and mostly good throws, even threading the needle to Corey "Philly" Brown on a deep out right at the sidelines, just before the defender could get there. That’s a throw Peterman hasn’t connected on enough of throughout OTAs, minicamp, and this training camp. Hopefully he continues to be able to do that. He also led the second offense to a TD on a 2-minute drill, taking what the defense gave him, for the most part, but hitting Brandon Tate on a 22-yard TD strike for the score.'

'Year after year, new general managers and head coaches alike have attempted to build a suitable home on a flawed foundation. They tried and tried, and every time they were seemingly presented with the same disappointing result. This regime has prioritized rebuilding the flawed foundation that’s been ignored for the better part of two decades, so why not be open to a new process?'

'One of the biggest takeaways from the first preseason game of the year for the Bills was that the performance by backup quarterback T.J. Yates fell woefully short of what fans had been hoping for. His poor day, combined with a solid debut by rookie Nathan Peterman made the Bills take a longer look at their backup job, it would appear. Peterman, not Yates, took the vast majority of reps with the second-team offense on Sunday — only the second time he’s even taken a rep with that unit since the beginning of training camp, and that was in the first few days.'

'“Dion (Dawkins) would potentially move over if we got that far,” said McDermott. “At this point in time we’re not going to do that. We’re going to get him comfortable at the right tackle position. But we do have to have a contingency plan in place and we feel the reps Dion built up on the left side over the spring should serve him well if needed.”'

'“It was good. I’ve been taking reps with Ryan Groy and those linemen a little bit,” said Peterman. “It was a good transition and I was thankful for it.”'

'For Barnwell, the Bills were winners because of these picks. The Bills will be able to compete this season, as general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott have espoused many times this offseason. But, they will also have flexibility next offseason, as they look to continue to build the Bills into a contender.'