Jump to content

AstroNotes8 : Bills Camp Wednesday August 17

Astrobot

By Astrobot
in The Stadium Wall Archives

 Share

Recommended Posts

Astrobot Veteran

Astrobot

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is the final AstroNotes for this year. I don't go to the evening practices, @CJchristiansen3 and his buddy Jeff are sitting up by the press box on the far side. Thanks Conell for all your help; see you on Twitter! He'll be studying Sports Management at MCC this September.

 

Today had the best weather of the summer practices, 77 degrees with a FeelsLike of 84 at 9:35 this morning. The usual gang of kickers and snappers are out there early, and again the Lone Returner, Powell, who stopped at the barricade to sign some autographs and allow some selfies taken with him. After some yogic postures in the end zone to the left, Powell shags punts from the JUGS machine. The machine has three [3] guys attending to it; is this really necessary? And/or, Can I sign up?

 

Sanborn strolls in with Ed Reed, sporting a red Bills bucket cap with blue shirt today. Of course, everything goes with the olive loincloth he always wears. Reid Ferguson signs while Ta'amu trots to the third field. He's in the same mold as TJ Barnes was, and Casey Walker still is: fill a refrigerator full of muscle and chicken wings, chill for 24 years. In vert refrigerator and you have a Nose Tackle.Jarrett Boykin obliges for a selfie or two, and also heads to field 3. Garrison Sanborn, who's in all likelihood sticking around this year to snap for a million dollars, shakes the hand of a middle-aged man he recognizes and signs the old-style Buffalo helmet of his two sons. Chris Martin, sporting a cross between a beard and given-up-shaving, waddles to field 3 along with O'Leary, Dray, and Wood. Cardale, who always seems hot and sweaty, carries his shoulder pads replete with red jersey.

 

Powell's fielding punts on the run today. Sanborn is catching practice field goals from Carp and Gay. Whoops and hollers and screams of "Tyrod!" announce that Tyrod's making his way through the entrance under the bleachers and onto the grass field. He goes to the near pylon to pray. Gragg and Annen play catch down on the sideline in front of us ; Dray is 20 feet away, swinging one leg then the other. Jimmay Mundine, likely a PS tight end in a couple weeks, is working with a coach on a better lateral slide when he blocks. Carp is kicking off from his 40 and dropping it 3 yards deep in the far end zone. Three yards creates doubt in the kick returner's mind, and just that second of hesitation before bringing it out can spell disaster.

 

Zach Brown and Striker get a ball from the duffel and pitch it back and forth. Shady arrives with Doug Whaley. Rex and Roman talk to Sammy, most likely about what he should skip in practice today, because he's not in very many drills. C Graham has elastic bands on his legs and stretches his hip. Aaron is in uniform but not wearing a helmet. He's on the exercise bikes a lot when he's not giving high-fives, patting a player on the shoulder, or kibitzing. Jerry Hughes arrives 8 minutes late. Easley is on the turf field, but not dressed for practice. He has Sanjay Lal, Watkins, Goodwin, and Woods over there. The DB's are on the near side, doing ladders painted on the field. The gunners are working on meeting the runner, attempting to strip the ball. Crossman is barking commands. Kick Return practice helps me figure out who's thought of more as a special teams player. For example, Annen is in there first, and Dray is his substitute.

 

Groy again is Richie's understudy at LG, and his sub is Jamison Lalk. Both do meritable jobs.

 

Positionals continue, with WRs trying to catch passes thrown by the coach directly overhead. The OL practices on sleds, then on each other holding blocking pads. Miller is notable; he moves Lucas back about a yard, and Lucas is 6-4, 318. TEs practice making a catch off a solid block while the QBs and RBs work on handoffs, play-action, and option plays. McCoy looks 100%, like he can't wait to be out there when it counts again.

 

A drill I hadn't seen in camp before happens next. Tyrod and EJ have two WRs running a pattern. Tyrod throws to one, and EJ has to throw as soon as possible to the other. It builds quick decision-making, something EJ could use. When they had a turn, then EJ would throw to one receiver and Cardale would have to find the other receiver and throw it. Finally, Cardale was the first thrower and Tyrod had to target the 2nd WR.

 

Reggie Bush is back with the RBs; they are running routes with QBs throwing to RB or WR. Cardale throws behind Wilder. Dez Lewis is back with his WR-mates, and he's off the line in a flash, but Darby mirrors him step for step. Gilmore and Darby, with Kevon Seymour in the wings, is a luxury only a few teams have.

 

In Drill 4, there is a lot of 2 TE sets, with Tyrod getting the most work. Jimmay Mundine looks good enough to be on the practice squad, but would he supplant O'Leary there? O'Leary catches the ball well, and may edge Jimmay out. Clay, Gragg, and Annen are my best bets for the 53, with Dray on the cusp. Annen is just so athletic and reactive, and showing better awareness. It's hotter up here on the aluminum bleachers; I see a girl having a tough time with her $2 Sno-Cone. Then I notice she's wearing a Spiller jersey and I chuckle at the irony.

 

The ball is placed on the 5 yard line for the next set of plays. Clay makes a super catch by the near pylon. Gronk drops a perfect TD throw OVER THE MIDDLE. EJ misfires on a swing pass. Finally, Gragg steps up and gets an on-the-money Tyrod pass in the end zone. Touchdown! EJ impresses me by getting rid of the ball quick on the next play --likely 1/2 a second.

 

LINEMEN: Richie Incognito is doing some timed sprints over on the 3rd field. That's a good sign, even if it isn't his test to return. The extra playing time Groy and Kouandjio got at LG and LT respectively may come in handy. More on the OL: Chris Martin, now at LT, does a nice job with his hands and his feet, and steers an inside move by Kyle Williams off to one side of the QB. Renfrow takes his place, and shows his strength is lateral movement. Both Martin and Renfrow are good Practice Squad guys. Cyril Richardson, who played G, didn't distinguish himself but didn't allow sacks. Marquis Lucas at RG keeps his feet moving well, but could use more work on hand-fighting and bend more. I'm not comfortable with Velasco or Kugler, but I see why Velasco gets the reps behind Wood. Kugler shows good recognition and awareness, as he had to switch man out there. He knows what to do, and just lacks the muscle and bulk to carry it out. Perfect for the PS.

 

WRs: Little makes a "hands" catch, and I want to like him. He's been inconsistent but Little sure has the size over the middle of the WR pack. He's 220, and even Dez Lewis is only 214, Boykin 215, and Salas 210. Powell's smaller than all of them, but his speed and PR/LR duties net him a spot, at least until Listenbee returns, which is likely by the last of the preseason games.

 

Two picks on successive plays of Cardale (we think Gilmore and Hughes) will get some film study this afternoon. Likewise, Corbin Bryan't ability to come up the middle will warrant study by the OL brain trust (and a spot on the roster for Corbin). A drop by O'Leary reminds me why I have him on the PS instead of the final 53. Tyrod's first throws seem to miss the mark a lot. When he came in this time, he overthrew Kain Colter late and high. The defense was stout, so, with a solid block by Mills, Tyrod scores on a keeper. Touchdown! Jimmay Mundine on a pass into the flat, scores. Touchdown! Spikes had to cover on the next play, and was a step behind, and the pass was complete. Lalk-Renfrow combo blocking kept the DE at bay, Kugler switched man in time with his head on a swivel, and Cardale delivers the bullet to Little on a slant for the Touchdown! The play worked because the RB swinging to the flat got the MILB's attention, pulled him one way, and the slant by Little filled the space he vacated. A very well-conceived play by G-Ro.

 

In the next 11 on 11, complete with down markers, 5 refs, and the first team except Sammy, Hawthorne was the left OLB opposte Manny Lawson, and effectively covered the flat. On the very next play, Zach Brown covered the flat equally well. Tyrod passed to Dez Lewis, Sammy's substitute, and Dez caught it, even though he was well-covered by Darby. The Catch of the Day was a 30-yarder to Woods on the next play. Next, Colter, Clay, and Little weren't able to gain satisfactory separation and Tyrod had to throw it away. See why I can't love Greg Little?

 

Aaron Williams is being tested on the other field, Conell informs me. See why I need spotters?

 

On the ensuing play, Goodwin failed to come back to the ball when he saw Tyrod was in trouble. That's trouble. Another well-conceived play has Dez clear out the zone for Woods to cross OVER THE MIDDLE for a nice gain. On the next play, a Tyrod keeper, Goodwin redeems himself, blocking well for his QB. Tyrod threw a little to high for Little in the end zone, then follows with an underneath pass OVER THE MIDDLE for Shady. We don't have the details, but Eric Wood and Powell have a tussle. Greg Little is now in Sammy's usual place, with Woods in the slot and Goodwin the wideout on that side. Casey Walker is not the NT, and the OC and Og double him. Goodwin gets a Tyrod pass right in the breadbasket with Darby unable to do anything about it, it was that perfect.

 

Cardale's in. Velasco shows use of hands to keep DL's off but going where he wants them. Maybe Velasco isn't as bad as I portrayed in these notes. Kain Colter and Sterling Moore collide, and Moore comes out for a play, trotting back in. They test him right away. Powell is on Dez Lewis, but Lewis makes the catch despite Moore's immediate hit. Powell helped on the same side to secure some extra space for Lewis. Notice I didn't say pick play. They get to Cardale on a full-out blitz. I'm glad they're throwing the kitchen sink at the rookie; he seems to profit from what experiences he has, and never seems rattled. Randell Johnson showed a lot from his new position on that blitz.

 

I'll spare you the details on the Kicker battle. Gay missed 3 of 7 and Carpenter hit all of his kicks save for one. Gay may stay as kickoff specialist, kicking FGs in a pinch but only until they signed a real kicker.

 

The regular first team started things off for Drill 9, to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger". Goodwin drops a 50-yarder that was there, and drops and gives 10 push-ups. A Shady sweep was defended nicely by Gilmore. Goodwin and Woods work a Pats pick play to perfection. Duke Williams gets to Tyrod on a Safety blitz. Then, Shady gets to the edge with some serious speed, but he'll tell you he isn't showing 6th gear yet. Jordan Mills runs the Lap of Shame for his false start, then Reggie gets the ILB leaning one way while Tyrod goes the other way. It's G-Ro Genius.

 

EJ gets two plays, both batted down, one by Lavar Edwards at the line and one by Sterling Moore on his best play of camp, preventing Walt Powell from catching it. Cardale comes in, and the DL is short a man. Casey Walker, likely the backup NT, notices and Justin Zimmer runs on. Zimmer knows he has to make up for his mistake, so he pushes the entire pocket back onto Cardale, and more so than Deaderick. Cardale evades pressure from a called Safety blitz and delivers a catch-able ball to Clay, who almost pulls it down. Gilmore breaks up a pass intended for Woods, but Ed Reed says something to Gilmore like "That should have been yours", and Gilmore drops and gives him 10 push-ups.

 

Kujo moves Lorenzo Alexander enough so that Cardale can pass to Powell, who makes a nice catch. Brandon Spikes does what he does on a run stop, and Kugler's awareness keeps the pocket clean on the next play. Zimmer again pushes the pocket back into Cardale on the last play, blowing up a run play in the backfield.

 

I've enjoyed the feedback and discussion my notes have provided. I've heard from Bills fans in France, England, Afghanistan, Wyoming, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. Just performing a service. We're all Bills fans on this bus...

 

~Astro

Edited by Astrobot
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...