Training Camp Notes – Sunday, July 28 

It’s 8:58 p.m ET. Running back coach Kelly Skipper begins his walk around the track. There is not a cloud in the sky to shield us from the blazing orb up there. Santana would say, “It’s a hot one like 7 inches from the midday sun”. A tinier-than-last-year NFL Network tent is set up in the northeast corner of the playing field.

So far, I’ve seen my buddy Mike McD and his brother with wife, and I’ve seen Erik Turner and Anthony Prohaska of Cover1,  two of the sharpest football minds I know. Fedora Joe will be along soon on the second Sutherland School shuttle, and we’ll both try to report on even more that is happening. First song is “Can’t Touch This”, obviously referring to the Bills’ agreement with St. John Fisher University — if they go, I go. Josh says he likes the dorm life for building camaraderie, so maybe the Pittsford college gets another one-year contract.

The Parade Begins. Early birds include : OG Gunner Britton, who goes over to sign autographs. LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, (not big, but he has thick, tree-trunk linebacker legs, and he’s the only one stretching right now), DB Te’Cory Couch, WR Mack Hollins, LB Deion Jones, LS Reid Ferguson, OT Tylan Grable, and P Sam Martin.

A group of girls start singing “happy birthday”.  Matt Milano is 30 years old today.

Shorter and Xavier Johnson are warming up on a pair of JUGS (seriously, there are two machines), with WR Lawrence Keys III running over for a turn. Keys is a scant 170 pounds. Even Andy Isabella outweighs him by 18.

I’m beginning to learn the names of the plethora of players who are new to this Bills roster, but still confounding the Shorter-Shavers, the Benford-Bernards, and the 3 Edwardses on the team. Most folks younger than I can use old brain cells for new players (Steve Tasker’s 89 is now Bryan Thompson, for instance). It’s like changing a light bulb. But when you when you’re 75, when the lightbulb goes out, you have to put up another fixture in with a new lightbulb. The old one has to stay there, just because. (ed.note: can confirm)

Khalil Shakir gets a nice round of cheers as he trots through the tunnel –second only to add Ed Oliver’s applause. Tight End Zach Davidson (6’7″) spends some extra time at the JUGS machine. The four zebras get absolutely no cheer from the crowd. Fedora Joe says it’s not Foot Locker day.

Josh Allen, He of the Highest QB Wonderlic Score in the League, again opts for the grey hoodie, despite the fact that it is 80* and getting warmer by the minute. He high-fives Mack Hollins,  and holds his helmet up to Shane Buechele. They start warming up with the tight ends, including Davidson.

Looks like James Cook isn’t out there today. I’m told it’s an excused absence. He’ll be back soon, because I’m liking the depth at running back. The team won’t lose a step with a RB room of Cook, Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, and FB Reggie Gilliam. You’ll see Darrynton Evans in preseason, and he has good hands, too. Could a trade happen before September 1?

Practice before calisthenics involves the fire drill they did yesterday, downing the ball quickly after the reception. Dawuane Smoot’s in for this drill at defensive end, opposite Von Miller. Then they’re quickly going right into calisthenics. Today’s calisthenics stars, those putting in extra effort, Include Quintin  Morris, Shane Buechele, Justin Shorter, Baylen Spector, KJ Hamler, and many of the O-Line. Did Kromer mention something??

Billy Buffalo is on his way through the tunnel. He wearing 88, although it could be a BB (I take eye drops for this).

Kick returners are KJ Hamler, Daequan Hardy, and Andy Isabella. Oh my Lord, Sam Martin just dropped one on the one-yard line and it went out.

Offensive linemen are taking turns making two hits and guys approaching with blocking pads. They’ve been told to “sit in their chair and and and strike with some pop, with full arm extension. Kevin Jarvis particularly impressed doing that.

Sam Martin continues to kick down to the 1- or 2-yard line. Every single kick that Martin has punted has bounced backward. It’s Punt Science. Yeah, Martin obviously plays golf (in fact, he did play over the weekend with our BuffaloFAMBase guy, Mike). He’s got that backspin working well. Not to be outdone, Jake Browning uncorks one of his own, down to the two. But his next attempt goes out at the 14, albeit the spin on it caused it to be muffed by the returner Hardy.

Kick return work is mercifully over and positionals begin. Kromer’s offensive line is to our left in the end zone, practicing combination blocks, two-on-two. Quarterbacks are doing a handoff, and a pass with a second ball thrown to t. Weird.

The Tight Ends are getting vociferous instruction from Rob Boras. They block a dummy and go out for a pass. Wide receivers have to block a dummy and then get thrown a pass from point-blank range as if they’re running a comeback route.

QBs passing to the running backs now. Darrynton Evans deftly catches a really well-thrown ball. What am I saying?? ALL of them are really well-thrown balls. Passes are right where they should be, from all three quarterbacks. You won’t miss Kyle Allen. Most interesting is that Curtis Samuel is working with the running backs for this drill. Expect him to be a Swiss Army knife.

Kromer is now working with the offensive line on leverage blocking (turning their defender left or right) and on combo blocking with a pulling tackle. Richard Gouraige (6-5, 306) and Ryan VanDemark (6-6, 307) are very adept at pulling.

Tight Ends caught passes on a slant in the following order: Knox, then Kincaid, then Morris, Gilliam, Tre’ McKitty, Davidson, and –yep– Curtis Samuel.

Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady moves all over the place among the positionals, gesturing, barking, pointing, pulling a guy aside. You can tell he knows what he wants. Players have been talking about how much they like him, how smart he is. They speak about his brilliant football mind. That synchronizes so well with Wonderlic Man.

Wide receivers went through the drills receiving passes from Josh, in the following order: Hollins, Chase Claypool, Bryan Thompson, Khalil Shakir. Might mean something. Might not.

Shakir catches a rare wayward ball and brings it in. MV-S makes a sweet break on an out pattern and reels the ball in before crossing the sideline. Now, the receivers are practicing getting off press-man (an assistant coach) and catching the ball on in-breaking routes from the quarterbacks. 

7 on 7

A full 42 minutes into the practice, we are ready for seven on seven. We have Shakir, Hollins, Coleman, and Darrynton Evans. Cole Bishop almost gets an INT on the first pass from Josh. He has to do 10 push-ups for not finishing the play. On the next play, it looks like Ty Johnson had to do 10 push-ups down in the corner for not catching a catchable ball. Knox makes a sweet catch at the goal line on a slant. He crashes into a couple of defenders, sending them all to the ground, but all seem to be OK. I hear tomorrow is a padded practice.

11 on 11

Things have been turned up here, including the music. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Mack Hollins are your receivers, but the pass goes to Dalton Kincaid on a sweet slip screen. Yes, the Bills are going to use screen passes for the first time in decades. The next pass goes to Keyon Coleman, right in front of us. The hands are impressive, and Keon looks like he has some YAC potential. Knox catches another pass, a 21-personnel play, receiving high-fives from everybody, including Rob Boras. It’s Trubisky’s turn, with Ray Davis at his right flank. Curtis Samuel goes in motion. Rousseau and Oliver stymie that rush attempt by Ray Davis, but he pivots and squirts out the right side. Josh Allen runs the length of the field to congratulate Davis’s ability to bounce it out.

Buechele has a deceptive fake handoff.

Tempers are building as three helmets came off on the next play, including Dion Dawkins, Chase Claypool, and Ja’Marcus Ingram. Things have definitely gotten turned up. On the next play, Dorian Williams attempts to take Tyrell Shavers to the ground. K.J. Hamler brain farts on his initial pre-snap position on the following play, and he is motioned in, but they opt to come out of the huddle again. 

Back to the twos. Trubisky shows why he was a trade-up from Kyle Allen, utilizing his outside speed to go wide to the far side of the field on a QB keeper. Two plays later, Trubisky has Ty Johnson to his right. For my taste, Trubisky hesitates too long, holds onto it until the bitter end, but is able to go long, finding Bryan Thompson down the field or a touchdown. Backup Kendall Williamson takes the walk of shame back toward his teammates and gets consoled by number five, Kaiir Elam, who has walked in Williamson’s shoes.

Ones are out there again and Josh just throws 15 yards out to the flats, where Kincaid has separated 5 yards from the next-available defender. Next, it’s a sweet tight end slip screen to Knox after a sleight-of-hand fake. That’ll be there for at least two or three games before defensive coordinators figure that one out. K.J. Hamler splits a pair of defenders and turns on the Jets in a similar screen. After the play, trainers are stretching KJ Hamler out. To my trained medical eye, I’d have to say it’s either a hamstring or a ‘hamlerstring’. Five minutes later, K.J.’s up and receiving a comeback pass from Josh, so I guess he’s all right. Or the trainers are fantastic.

Remember those rotisserie hot dogs at 7-11? They’ve twirl around and around on those silver rollers? Until they were overcooked? Or overdone? Well, that’s me.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

​​Twitter: @TCBILLS_Astro

Bills Fanalyst and Writer, www.BuffaloFAMBase.com,​NFL Draft: ​http://buffalofambase.com/author/deankindig/

Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Dean and Joe for finding a way to get to camp and bring this amazing post sharing their insights. You can find Dean Kindig on Xwitter @TCBILLS_Astro and Joe Reagan @joer869.