Niagara Gazette

‘The Buffalo Bills were without five wide receivers and their top two tight ends in some capacity Tuesday, leading to mixing and matching with the first-team offense. But the top three receivers haven’t changed since training camp opened.’

‘ Landon Jackson wanted to keep a promise. He declared after the Buffalo Bills selected him in the third round of April’s draft that he was a high-energy player. Jackson believes he plays with an edge without crossing the line. Players like that usually thrive when the pads go on.’

‘Clayton is completely healthy now and has participated in all offseason workouts. He’s also learning the game and is much more comfortable with the playbook. Although his thick accent sometimes requires offensive line coach Aaron Kromer and teammates to make him repeat a sentence, something that goes both ways.’

‘The color of Shaq Thompson’s uniform changed, as did his jersey number. But training camp doesn’t feel any different.’

‘Samuel never suffered a serious injury last year, but piled small ones that limited his practice time here and there, along with three games. It started with turf toe during training camp, then a shoulder injury and a rib — Samuel appeared on the injury report at least once in 13 weeks with four different ailments, with a “limited” designation in 20 practices.’

‘Cook said he wanted to avoid the $50,000-per-day fine that comes with missing a training camp practice for an unexcused reason, just as he did for mandatory minicamp. It would be hard to prove his claim of being one of the NFL’s best running backs if he didn’t practice anyway.’

‘Tight end Dawson Knox (hamstring), right tackle Spencer Brown (back), center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (calf) and receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. (lower leg strain) all missed practice Wednesday at St. John Fisher University. But Bosa, who missed all the team’s minicamps, was a full participant for the first time in his Bills tenure.’

‘It might be hard to separate the two because there’s been a fire-breathing beast hovering in their path, preventing them from grasping the riches they desperately want to attain. The monster the Bills want to conquer, though, is very real and it resides in Kansas City.’

‘The Buffalo Bills are digging into nostalgia for the final regular season game at Highmark Stadium.’

‘How do you win an NFL MVP? By being the least-sacked quarterback in the league.’

‘But the reality is that the salary cap makes it hard to create quality competition at multiple positions in the NFL, especially for a perennial playoff team like the Buffalo Bills. But the Buffalo general manager has managed to find some of it up and down the roster.’

‘For years, the Bills haven’t been trying to find a No. 2 cornerback, first to play opposite White and now Christian Benford, who signed a four-year extension during the offseason. They drafted Kaiir Elam in the first round, but it was never a great fit and he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys after three years, 12 starts and one year left on his contract.’

‘But the Bills plummeted to 24th in passing defense after giving up 3,843 yards, the most allowed by a McDermott defense since arriving in Buffalo in 2017. Hamlin and Rapp missed three games apiece, but ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the team in tackles.’

‘Who is going to be the entrée?’

‘The Buffalo Bills have all nine draft picks under contract.’