Yours truly was in attendance at the Bills evening practice in lovely Pittsford on Sunday. I sent out a bunch of tweets throughout the night, and you can check out @christrapasso on Twitter for the entire thread, but I figured I might as well piece together a quick summary of my observations from St. John Fisher College.
First things first:
The white helmets are fresh. That’s all there is to it. I’m also a big fan of the royal blue instead of the deep navy on the uniforms. Who knows if it’ll translate to better play on Sundays this fall, but hey, remember when the Denver Broncos changed things up uniform and helmet-wise in the late 90s? Always trying to keep it positive people. And honestly, how sick of those poor excuses for uniforms were you? Because I was done with those nasty threads the second Drew Bledsoe threw his first interception as a member of the Bills. Moving on…
Initial observations:
I know a lot of these recaps start with the players that didn’t practice. The only real noteworthy Bills player I saw that wasn’t participating in any drills was wideout Marcus Easley. He is easily the most physically intimidating receiver, but apparently he’s nursing a tweak of his surgically repaired knee. I truthfully think he has loads of potential, but if he can’t stay healthy who knows if he’ll even get the chance to live up to any expectations.
During one-on-one outside linebacker drills Chris Kelsay sqaured up with Aaron Maybin. They went pretty hard at each other and Maybin ended the play by getting in Kelsay’s face, probably saying a few words. Kelsay responded by smacking No. 58 on the helmet. Not exactly a love tap, either. Got a few laughs from the crowd. I wonder what was said. If anything, I’m hoping it was a wake up call. During those drills George Edwards never stopped talking. He was really “coaching”. Dick Jauron never said as many words during his entire tenure as Bills’ head coach.
Bright spots:
I don’t know what it is, but the last few years that I’ve been to Bills’ practices, Roscoe Parrish has always been a consistent performer. He seems in mid-season form on his routes, catching the football and making would-be tacklers miss once the ball is in his hands. In the start of some of the passing drills, Ryan Fitzpatrick connected with him often, with Parrish working out of the slot. Kick-off work was the next session and I have no clue if he’ll rebound from last year’s disappointment or not, but man, C.J. Spiller’s acceleration is out of this world. Seeing it in person, that close, was extremely cool.
Marcell Dareus is freakishly strong. Like we didn’t know that already. He destroyed poor Kraig Urbik on a lineman drill which drew a huge cheer from the crowd. During team drills, he never blew up any run plays, but demanded a double team on nearly every snap. Kyle Williams will be a happy man this year.
Steve Johnson dropped an easy pass on a quick comeback route from Fitzpatrick that was intercepted, but easily had the most catches on the evening. He really can find the “soft spot” in the zone and Fitzpatrick looks for him often. To me, Johnson makes the tough catches, like one toward the end of practice where he tip-toed the sideline in tight coverage, but sometimes loses focuses on the simple catches. Hmmm.
Not so bright spots:
He didn’t have an terrible evening, but Leodis McKelvin is one of those “that’s why he’s a cornerback” players. He is very athletic and is fluid in coverage, but when the ball is thrown his way, forget about it. Fitzpatrick wobbled a ball behind Steve Johnson during 7-on-7 work and it bounced right off Leo’s hands. Prior to that, the defensive backs worked on catching high passes and McKelvin struggled the most.
I would give Ryan Fitzpatrick a “B” for his overall effort on the night because he was sharp on short and intermediate passes, however he rarely had the timing down on the deep ball. He found Naaman Roosevelt on one lofted toss at the front pylon of the endzone, but when he looked for Lee Evans down the sideline, it just wasn’t there. Too long, a few wide and a few underthrown. Hopefully that’ll come back with time?
Dud of the night:
Maybe Aaron Maybin? Leodis McKelvin? (although I did have him with two pass breakups) Honestly there wasn’t any one player who was noticeably awful. However, the play certainly was rusty.
Star of the night:
Aaron Williams. By far. He is definitely the most built defensive back and gives it his all on every play. He took back a INT for a touchdown and had a handful of pass breakups. He lined up with both Evans and Johnson and held his own. Williams got nicked up at the end of the practice, but there were no reports that he had any type of significant injury. From the start, he looks like a real hard-nose playmaker. Very physical.
Other news:
Dareus sniffed out a screen pass toward the end of practice and limped off before the play was over. I haven’t heard anything about it being a major injury, and honestly think it was a little leg cramp. It was a pretty hot evening in Pittsford. Nick Barnett and Shawne Merriman are boys, for sure. They talked just about every time Merriman came off the field. Eric Wood was the starting center. Athur Moats was again playing mostly inside. (why, I don’t know) David Nelson had somewhat of a quiet evening with two or three catches, but makes getting open look very easy.
I’ll try to make it back to the next night practice which I believe is August 4th.
Check me out on twitter @christrapasso
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