Astro-Notes: Aug 2 Practice

[Astrobot]

The big news is that Stevie went down 3/4 through practice with what looks like a hammy. This will be known as "#HammyGate".

 

Impressions from today:

 

~ Tuel showed improved velocity and touch today. Threw a divine fade pass to the corner and a sleek bullet to a double-covered receiver. Now we'll work on throwing to the WIDE OPEN Chandler in the endzone, who was back in pads today.

 

~Alonso-Moats is a fun battle. Both are getting their pre-snap commands out, with Moats maybe a little slower to "see the play".

 

~Dowtin had a sack today on EJ, as did Mana Silva on a safety blitz. Nice to write different names.

 

~Marquise Goodwin was a monster out there today. Hauled in 2 TDs.

 

~I think our #1 priority right now is to get our OL in gear. Lots of switcheroo at LG today. Maybe I'm wrong, but Branden Albert sure would look nice in a sign and trade for Byrd.

 

~Jerry Hughes WILL be a frequent starter for this defense. He had a sack and was wreaking havoc all day.

 

~Turnley was OC for the 3's and just wouldn't let up from start to whistle.

 

~They are now full-on blitzing Tuel as well as EJ. Both handled it better than expected; EJ had a designed QB sweep that neutralized it.

 

~Fun battle today between Hopkins and Lindell. Started with 6/6 consecutive FGs for both of them from 30 and 35. Lindell's were closer calls; Hopkins just let 'em sail, one time clearing the fence behind the goalposts. Finally Hopkins missed left, and had to re-kick. He made the re-do. Lindell answered with a miss of his own that fell short. All in All, it was a tie that has to favor the young guy (cheaper, longer career ahead of him, invested a draft pick). Both missed 4 today.

 

~Outside gunners today on Kickoffs were Woods, Kip Edwards, Nickell Robey, Tashard Choice; alternating with McKelvin, Brandon Kaufman, Crezdon Butler and another guy. Lots of special teams work on downfield blocking. TJ Graham dropped the ball on a KR.

 

~Kevin Elliott wasn't there at the outset. He appeared later with a sling. We was #7 WR IMHO

 

~Today's SLUG (slow lame under-effort guy) Award goes to Jumal Rolle, who limply jogged downfield on kickoffs like he was on a Sunday drive. He will be!

 

~EJ still makes some overthrows, some bad reads, but Hackett points them out, talking to him after every series. He missed Chandler in the endzone (he looked right, passed right, but Chandler was in the middle between goalposts), but another time found an all-alone Robert Woods for a TD and Dorin Dickerson for a TD. Offense now does chest bumps after a TD. Cool! EJ does not make the same mistake twice, but he is still inconsistent, learning, with upside up the wazoo.

 

~Our starting D front in 11 on 11 today is Dareus, Kyle Williams, and Jerry Hughes. On two consecutive plays, I watched Hughes. He set the edge on a play to the left, making the stop (still not a real tackle as we're not supposed to tackle yet). On the next play, he moved to his left side and sacked Tuel. Tuel replied by passing 15-20 yards to Chandler, down to the 5 yard line, completing the series with a TD to TJ Graham. I was most impressed with Hughes and Tuel in that set.

 

~ Brad Smith dropped one on the next series, Marquise (who's going to get serious playing time) had a nice slant (again) from EJ, immediately turning upfield for massive yards. This will be one of our bread and butter plays all year. I don't see how a D could stop it.

 

~Stevie went down with his #HammyGate about now. The crowd is quiet as 2 trainers helped him off. My opinion is that it isn't that serious as he was walking on it without a limp and with minimal help. This won't be long-term injury, but worth gearing Stevie down for a couple weeks. And I play a doctor on TV. Freddy Jackson gave him a love tap on the helmet.

 

~EJ showed improved target selection in the latter half of the day, but did overthrow a WR for what would have been another TD.

 

~Kolb looked better than he's looked before. He threw a pinpoint rope to Marquise for a TD, would have had another TD but it was a stellar PBU by Justin Rogers. He also showed some scrambling ability--must have learned that in Arizona. The LT during this series was Zebrie Sanders, and lord is he a load. Did well, just roadgrading players out of the way. LG was Chibane, MArrone's OL from Syracuse. Kolb then had a nice pass to Brad Smith (Smith had slipped on a previuos play), pass to Spiller (dropped by CJ), very nice shifty run by Spiller, and a TD to Woods.

 

~Play of the day was 60+ yard TD by Marquise Goodwin, dropped right in his hands at full speed. I don't recall the QB, sorry.

[thebandit27]

The big news is that Stevie went down 3/4 through practice with what looks like a hammy. This will be known as "#HammyGate".

 

Impressions from today:

 

~ Tuel showed improved velocity and touch today. Threw a divine fade pass to the corner and a sleek bullet to a double-covered receiver. Now we'll work on throwing to the WIDE OPEN Chandler in the endzone, who was back in pads today.

 

~Alonso-Moats is a fun battle. Both are getting their pre-snap commands out, with Moats maybe a little slower to "see the play".

 

~Dowtin had a sack today on EJ, as did Mana Silva on a safety blitz. Nice to write different names.

 

~Marquise Goodwin was a monster out there today. Hauled in 2 TDs.

 

~I think our #1 priority right now is to get our OL in gear. Lots of switcheroo at LG today. Maybe I'm wrong, but Branden Albert sure would look nice in a sign and trade for Byrd.

 

~Jerry Hughes WILL be a frequent starter for this defense. He had a sack and was wreaking havoc all day.

 

~Turnley was OC for the 3's and just wouldn't let up from start to whistle.

 

~They are now full-on blitzing Tuel as well as EJ. Both handled it better than expected; EJ had a designed QB sweep that neutralized it.

 

~Fun battle today between Hopkins and Lindell. Started with 6/6 consecutive FGs for both of them from 30 and 35. Lindell's were closer calls; Hopkins just let 'em sail, one time clearing the fence behind the goalposts. Finally Hopkins missed left, and had to re-kick. He made the re-do. Lindell answered with a miss of his own that fell short. All in All, it was a tie that has to favor the young guy (cheaper, longer career ahead of him, invested a draft pick). Both missed 4 today.

 

~Outside gunners today on Kickoffs were Woods, Kip Edwards, Nickell Robey, Tashard Choice; alternating with McKelvin, Brandon Kaufman, Crezdon Butler and another guy. Lots of special teams work on downfield blocking. TJ Graham dropped the ball on a KR.

 

~Kevin Elliott wasn't there at the outset. He appeared later with a sling. We was #7 WR IMHO

 

~Today's SLUG (slow lame under-effort guy) Award goes to Jumal Rolle, who limply jogged downfield on kickoffs like he was on a Sunday drive. He will be!

 

~EJ still makes some overthrows, some bad reads, but Hackett points them out, talking to him after every series. He missed Chandler in the endzone (he looked right, passed right, but Chandler was in the middle between goalposts), but another time found an all-alone Robert Woods for a TD and Dorin Dickerson for a TD. Offense now does chest bumps after a TD. Cool! EJ does not make the same mistake twice, but he is still inconsistent, learning, with upside up the wazoo.

 

~Our starting D front in 11 on 11 today is Dareus, Kyle Williams, and Jerry Hughes. On two consecutive plays, I watched Hughes. He set the edge on a play to the left, making the stop (still not a real tackle as we're not supposed to tackle yet). On the next play, he moved to his left side and sacked Tuel. Tuel replied by passing 15-20 yards to Chandler, down to the 5 yard line, completing the series with a TD to TJ Graham. I was most impressed with Hughes and Tuel in that set.

 

~ Brad Smith dropped one on the next series, Marquise (who's going to get serious playing time) had a nice slant (again) from EJ, immediately turning upfield for massive yards. This will be one of our bread and butter plays all year. I don't see how a D could stop it.

 

~Stevie went down with his #HammyGate about now. The crowd is quiet as 2 trainers helped him off. My opinion is that it isn't that serious as he was walking on it without a limp and with minimal help. This won't be long-term injury, but worth gearing Stevie down for a couple weeks. And I play a doctor on TV. Freddy Jackson gave him a love tap on the helmet.

 

~EJ showed improved target selection in the latter half of the day, but did overthrow a WR for what would have been another TD.

 

~Kolb looked better than he's looked before. He threw a pinpoint rope to Marquise for a TD, would have had another TD but it was a stellar PBU by Justin Rogers. He also showed some scrambling ability--must have learned that in Arizona. The LT during this series was Zebrie Sanders, and lord is he a load. Did well, just roadgrading players out of the way. LG was Chibane, MArrone's OL from Syracuse. Kolb then had a nice pass to Brad Smith (Smith had slipped on a previuos play), pass to Spiller (dropped by CJ), very nice shifty run by Spiller, and a TD to Woods.

 

~Play of the day was 60+ yard TD by Marquise Goodwin, dropped right in his hands at full speed. I don't recall the QB, sorry.

 

Thanks 'stro...by the way, according to the camp blog, that Play-of-the-day TD pass to Goodwin was thrown by EJ

[eball]

~Play of the day was 60+ yard TD by Marquise Goodwin, dropped right in his hands at full speed. I don't recall the QB, sorry.

 

Awesome stuff, thanks -- I mean, ranks, Rastro! I don't know if you're joking, but it was EJ.

Edited August 2, 2013 by eball

[Astrobot]

Awesome stuff, thanks -- I mean, ranks, Rastro! I don't know if you're joking, but it was EJ.

EJ who?

[K-9]

Great stuff again, Astro. See if you can get a press pass.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Astrobot]

If anybody's going to the practice Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, let me know. Will check back later.

[Dorkington]

Thanks again!

 

I want to see video of that EJ to Flash bomb!

[yall]

Your reports (and Mikes) are the best thing about training camp. Keep 'em coming!

[Nikademus]

Always enjoy reading these breakdowns Astro, thank you!

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

Good work, Astro! I appreciate the time and effort. Makes getting through a Friday work day a little easier.

[John from Riverside]

Sooooooo glad that the bills drafted Marquis Goodwin.

 

He and Stevie will be the slot guys....and they are tailor made for it and we actually have outside receivers to compliment this year.

[Mark Vader]

Thanks again Astro.

 

Good stuff to read about Goodwin. Where would you rank him on the WR depth chart?

[Joe Miner]

Thanks again Astro.

 

Good stuff to read about Goodwin. Where would you rank him on the WR depth chart?

 

I'm interested to hear this as well.

 

My guess from what I've read so far is that he'll be in the slot in 4 WR sets, and perhaps some 3WR sets.

[Big Turk]

Hamstrings really suck...you feel fine, go out and run, make cuts, etc, then all of a sudden it will pull again out of nowhere, each time a little worse than before...

 

If it happens enough it can pop/tear and that's the real concern...

[Gavin in Va Beach]

Thanks Astro

[Kirby Jackson]

Astro, my dad has been asking for that same deal (Byrd for Albert). I guess that he is not alone. It seems to make sense for both teams.

 

Great report as always (ps it was EJ to Goodwin on the last play)

[Wooderson]

Thank you sir. Always good reads.

[mrags]

If anybody's going to the practice Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, let me know. Will check back later.

im definitely thinking hard about going Sunday afternoon. Maybe we can meet for lunch and sit and chat during.

[nucci]

Outstanding. Thanks.

[chris heff]

Thanks