BillsObserver

You should have bought a Bethel hat for .....

Yeah, the initial excitement has cooled down. The kid needs some time to learn the position. His physical attributes may be good enough to keep him on the team (whether it be the 53 man roster depending on injuries or more likely the practice squad)

haha!

loveeeee it

1) They like Chandler a lot. 2) They don't use the tight end position in the passing game because Gailey likes to spread the field with 4 or 5 wide receivers. 3) Their tight ends are basically extra blockers out there. David Martin and Chandler are good run blockers..

Well put. Saturday, my man.

I knew someone was going to overreact to the news of all these 3-5 day injuries. Just wait until we play some preseason games..

Now that sounds like a good time. Too many times I've experienced the other side of the coin that you mentioned..

I'm still excited. I don't care how meaningless preseason is - we have so many questions that need to be answered. How will the offensive line shake out? What receiver that's on the bubble will stand out and make the 53 man roster? (I'm looking at you, Naaman) One of the LBs that we've drafted (or signed that went undrafted) in the past few years will likely be cut, who will it be? These preseason games mean the most for that group of guys. (Antonio Coleman, Danny Batten, Chris White, Aaron Maybin, etc..) We can find out how good/comfortable Tyler Thigpen is in Gailey's system. WILL SHAWNE MERRIMAN HOLD UP? Johnny White will surely get a lot of carries this preseason. What will his role be in this offense if he ends up doing really well in these preseason games? How dominant will our defensive line look? OK, I'll stop. But you get my point. And I agree - we could end up with a good preseason record which means nothing but hey, Bills fans need some hope. I, for one, CAN'T WAIT.

The one thing I realized the past few days - this team is far less interesting (especially to the masses) without Merriman. So much of our season is riding on Merriman's health which is a bit.. scary. I do support them being extra cautious with him.

One last video I took. I've probably said this a million times already but thanks for all of the comments. Naaman will have a good opportunity to shine next week (first preseason game). If he continues to play this way, there's no way they can cut him unless he's totally useless in the blocking and special teams department. That's why Donald Jones will make this team - not only has he caught a lot, he's tremendous on special teams and has improved his blocking skills against opposing cornerbacks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB_Lqg7pxgo&feature=player_detailpage

Here's the drill I referenced in my report, the one where the D-lineman do the shadowboxing drill. I refer to #97 as McCargo in the video. My bad. That's Dotson. Unfortunately this was the second time around, if only I had caught the first time they did this, you would all crack up over Jasper's first attempt. Just looked funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gaz3hF2_Qs&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57VvNbimZnY&feature=player_profilepage I can only post one Youtube video at a time, right? Like I mentioned yesterday, this was my first time trying this so I didn't get the best footage, this was just an experiment and I wanted to see how it looks..

Thanks, Mike. I love reading your reports. You are awesome.. Now that I think about it - the throws I noticed most from Thigbeardy were his short to intermediate ones. They were things of beauty. You may be right about his longer balls not looking as tight - I'll pay closer attention next time I go. And man, hope all is well with you and yours over in Japan. The beard essentially acts as another pillow proving extra comfort and in turn a beautiful night's sleep. Thanks for asking!

Thanks so much for the comments, guys. Really awesome of you all. Tomorrow I will post some videos that I took. I'll put em up in this thread. Nothing too interesting..

My pleasure guys. Sorry if I screwed up any names or numbers. Had to write this quickly... TIME TO DRINK SOME BEERS and eat dinner.

As soon as I arrived in Pittsford, I knew it was going to be a hot one. Thankfully, because of the clouds and a slight breeze, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got there a few minutes early and it was brutal but like I mentioned, it turned out alright once practice got going. Good turnout for a Friday practice. I was at Monday's practice and there was definitely more people here today. The first person I saw on the field today was QB/DB/Whatever role they give him if they don't cut him Josh Nesbitt. Michael Jasper and Michael Switzer (Center) were also apart of first group of guys on the field. The offensive line got together and did a bunch of stretches together. I sat near the field that featured mostly offense so if this report lacks information on Defensive guys you want to hear about, I apologize in advance. It was difficult to see the other side although I did get some good glimpses of action occasionally. At this point I realized Dareus was on the field in gear and pads participating. Thank heaven for that. But then I looked over to see Shawne Merriman NOT in pads and observing. Bummer. Oh well -- this was one of his planned days off. The Bills don't want to risk anything with him right now so they are playing it extra carefully. David Martin and Shawn Nelson (what a surprise) were also on the sidelines observing. Levi Brown, Josh Nesbitt and Brad Smith threw together while Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyler Thigpen were off to the side throwing to each other. At this point I realized what a beautiful spiral Thigpen throws. On the other field, Dave Wannstedt spent a bunch of time with newly acquired Nick Barnett. He was definitely coaching Nick up for a good 15 minutes. Fred Jackson was having some fun throwing a few balls the way of the net with the 3 holes in it (for the QBs). He actually hit his first target. His second one however, completely missed and Levi Brown was cracking up. Donald Jones, a known ball buster, must have said something because Fred whipped a ball his way. Marcus Easley took part in some light drills. He participated in any drill where he could stay within a certain distance and catch. He did walk with a slight limp at times. This guy is an impressive physical specimen. There was no sign of David Nelson, who I later found out was sent back to see the Bills doctors in Buffalo. I noticed Darryl Talley with Shawne Merriman on the sidelines talking for more than 10 minutes observing the Linebacker drills -- likely having a good laugh over Aaron Maybin trying to push people around. To Maybin's credit, he wasn't totally awful here. He fit in well enough. The QBs started throwing some balls to receivers and tight ends at this point. I'd like to mention again how well Thigpen throws the ball. This was with no defenders though (more on that later). Chandler and Pianalto were catching everything. Nesbitt threw a bad ball or 2. The special teams did their thing on the longer field. McKelvin, Donald Jones, #25 (assuming this is one of the new running backs brought in today, Bruce Hall?!), and CJ Spiller took the returns, in that order. Not much to note here other than Spiller looking more confident with the ball. The kickers were up next. Chris Hazley, who wears #3, was taking turns kicking with Rian Lindell. Lindell hit most of his kicks, including the long ones. Hazley wasn't that bad until they started kicking from longer distances. His last kick, which was the furthest distance, barely reached the post. Up until this point, I had barely seen Dareus or Jasper. They started the 11 on 11 handoff drills and Dareus was on the line with Kyle Williams playing the end. The defense lined up in the 4-3 with Torbor and Barnett out there on the starting unit already. After the handoff drills, they did some more positional drills. I got a good view of the defensive tackles and ends. During a simple drill, Alex Carrington was getting the most flack from the coach. Dareus looked about as good as you could during this but I don't want to over-hype it because it was a simple drill. On the other field, the QBs were taking turns with a receiver against a corner. First up was Stevie Johnson against Terrence McGee. Stevie won with a well thrown ball by Fitz. Naaman Roosevelt caught the first long ball of the day when he beat his man for a touchdown which received a nice response from the crowd. That was the first of a string of long touchdowns. Roscoe Parrish did a stop and go route which completely fooled Drayton Florence, who ended up falling down, which made for an easy throw and catch for a touchdown. Crowd loved this. Kamar Aiken was the next guy to catch a long touchdown. Brad Smith (yes, Brad Smith) threw it and Aiken made a nice grab to beat his man. At this point, Aiken started to standout in a good way. He's not fast but he creates separation from his man. At 219 pounds, he looks like a stockier receiver. The defensive lineman proceeded to do the goofiest shadow boxing drill I've ever seen. They'd basically just punch a few times while running and that's the drill. Some of the guys doing it looked freakin' hilarious like Michael Jasper, who got some laughs from the crowd. I recorded some of this and hope to get it up on Youtube in the next few days. Lionell Dotson (#97) also looked ridiculous. 7 on 7 work was next. Fitz threw to Roscoe for a short gain. Fitz threw to Chandler for a long touchdown which got a great response from the crowd. This was a beautiful throw and catch by both guys. Chandler looks really good so far. Let's hope Chan finds a way to fit him in the offense. Dude is 6'7!! Fitz hit Spiller for a completion in the flat. Fitz went deep again, this time to Tight End Mike Caussin (#82 - every time he made a reception I thought Josh Reed was back). Fitz threw ANOTHER deep ball, this time to the left sideline to Lee Evans who caught it but may have bobbled it as he approached the sideline. I peaked over on the other side to Wang v. Maybin. These guys have been paired up a lot which tells you something. The first battle was pretty even with Maybin getting his hands up high on Wang's helmet. Next up was Danny Batten v. Wang. Batten schooled the living hell out of Wang here. I'm starting to doubt whether Wang belongs on this team at all. Back to the 7 on 7 - Thigpen, who was against defenders for the first time, didn't look quite as sharp as earlier. 2 of his first 3 throws were incompletions. One of them he threw way too low. On the other side was MOUNT JASPER v. Hangartner. Hangman won, unfortunately. To Jasper's defense, I heard from a few guys around me that he pushed Hangman back a few times so I just caught the one that Hangman did well on. Back to the other side - Brad Smith (who is getting serious QB reps) threw to Naaman Roosevelt over the middle. At this point I asked myself, does Naaman drop anything?! Sadly, I'm not sure there's a spot for him with all of the depth we have at WR (unless someone is hurt). Brad Smith should have been picked off on the next throw by #46 (apparently his name is DOYLE MILLER!) but he dropped it. I guess that's why he's DOYLE MILLER. Kamar Aiken was once again getting good separation and catching most of the balls that came his way. Like I said earlier, a bigger dude who isn't fast by any means but he somehow gets open. If Easley can't stay healthy, can this guy make the squad? Definitely a practice squad candidate. Fitz came back in and threw a completion to the WIDE OPEN Caussin. He missed on his next throw to Stevie Johnson. Fitz tried forcing it. Thigpen comes in and throws a BEAUTIFUL ball to Donald Jones (who had a really good day). 20 yard touchdown and the crowd loved it. On the next play, Thigpen found a COMPLETELY WIDE OPEN Caussin. This time it had to be a mistake (blown coverage) because nobody was around the guy. Once again Thigpen impresses me (Thigbeardy?!) with a good 15 yard Touchdown throw to Chandler. Horn blows, next drill. This was the point where my phone died and I couldn't tweet anymore. Sorry about that, folks. They did some positional drills again - light stuff. I noticed Wannstedt with Nick Barnett for ANOTHER solid 10 minutes or so. Straight up coaching. Barnett was asking all sorts of questions about lining up and what position he should be in at the point of attack. GOOD stuff. OK -- it's time what we all came to see, the 11 on 11 stuff. I made note of ALL 41 plays (yep, I felt like a goofball doing this but I love this stuff) Click here for the REST of my report where I go over ALL 41 11-on-11 plays. And a few more observations/notes. Yes, I'm insane.

This is not some huge plug for my Twitter account or anything (I'm not encouraging you to follow me but you can if you want), but I thought I'd let you all know since Joe B (from WGR, who usually does minute-by-minute updates on his Twitter account) won't be at camp today, I'll be there and doing updates as I see them. My handle is @Fitzbeardy, so twitter.com/Fitzbeardy if you want to check in on how things are looking for today's session. Again, I apologize if this is seen as some advertisement. I would post them here but my phone sucks, so twitter will have to do. I'll also post an in-depth review later on here. I'm going to attempt to record some footage with my digital HD recorder of EVERYONE'S FAVORITE, Michael Jasper. Not sure how it'll turn out but I'll give it a shot... GO BILLS!

Bills can't win. They identify a guy they want, have to pay a little more for him (Vikings wanted Thigpen) and fans still complain. Yeah, is he overpriced? Sure. Does it really matter because we are still wayyyyy under the cap and won't come close to approaching said cap? No. Gailey got the guy he wanted. Sometimes you have to pay a few more dollars... Also, I thought Fitzy was overpriced when he first arrived (3 mill a year) and making more than our starting QB at the time. Who knows, maybe Thigpen eventually wins the job (probably not happening due to the power of the Fitzbeardy).

Hey Marv, happy birthday!

Who's Denver's Coach? John Fox. What is John Fox's reputation? LOVES the veteran QB. Will ride the vet until he absolutely has to put the young guy in. Who was the guy responsible for drafting Tebow? Josh McDaniels. Add up the pieces and Tebow didn't have a chance to be the starter. Fox is about as conservative as it gets when it comes to his QBs. That situation in Carolina last year was an absolute nightmare for the guy. Tebow just has to wait another year unless someone offers something for him.

Safe to say he won't get anything close to that if he wants to be a Bill. Buddy was done with him. Donte is desperate and wants back in. In this scenario, Buddy will offer him what he feels is fair (if he even bothers to do that) or less than their original offer to Donte.

Wrong.

I wrote a little piece on my stupid blog (sorry, cheap plug) that Donte coming back isn't the worst idea. I feel our secondary is pretty strong and adding him would be a good thing. I honestly wanted nothing to do with the guy when he acted like a crybaby on twitter but now I feel sympathy for the guy because it appears he genuinely wants to be a Buffalo Bill which is a rare thing. I know many, many folks do not like the guy but I think he took a lot of blame on a really bad D last year when he was being asked to do a lot of different things. Either way, I'll be alright. There's a part of me that wants to move on from the Donte Whitner era and then there's another part of me that wouldn't care if he came back as long as he made a reasonable amount of money (compared to his original demands).

Maybin better than Coleman? I don't quite think so.