Hokie Smokes: #Bills’ Training Camp, Practice 9

If you got the Bullwinkle reference, we need to get a beer together sometime. I believe that was an expression of Rocky, the flying squirrel.

Nearly the entire roster hit the field early Wednesday, eager to get back to work after a day off and the premier episode of the Bills on Hard Knocks. It was a big topic of conversation throughout the mafia today, and no doubt that included the players. For a Bills fan, last night was gold. While no one can match the voice of the late John Facenda, Liev Schreiber is very, very good. Big winners include St. John Fisher University and Pittsford Dairy; but the tame traffic shot in Pittsford was quite misleading.

Today’s warm-up stars: Spencer Brown, Josh Allen, Elijah Moore, Jordan Hancock, Ed Oliver, Landon Jackson. Welcome back to action Dorian Williams.

Kickoff drills were first on the main field. Both Codrington and Shenault look dynamic in the kick return competition, every bit as exciting as former Bills KRs Andre Roberts and Nyheim Hines. In the punt drills, Tyrell Shavers looked to be the Bills #1 gunner. It looks good right now for this camp favorite.

While the QBs were throwing to the TEs and RBs, I paid particular attention to Dawson Knox. He looks fluid in his routes, and we now know he looks sharp in his camp leisure attire. A steady progression in the chemistry between Josh and Elijah Moore is noticeable.

Today’s lucky lottery winners got to see a fun tackling drill, which looked like it could be titled ‘How to avoid using your helmet in low tackles’. The 11 v 11s finally commenced around 10:35. It was good to have Spencer Brown and Taylor Rapp back out with the ones. Hamlin got most of the #1 S reps, with Cam Lewis also in the mix today. Ty Johnson had the nicest run of the day; Allen threw to Knox, Kincaid, and Shavers in this segment. In his next drive, a new name appeared on the Bills TC radar. Keonta Jenkins, a rangy rookie UDFA coverage LB from Virginia Tech, picked off the MVP. I can’t wait to see more of Jenkins Saturday. Not to be outdone, fellow Hokie rookie Dorian Strong also had a nice interception of Buechele that might have been a pick-six.

In general the defense had the better off today’s scrimmaging. with plenty of pressure on Josh from Oliver, Rousseau, and Epenesa. There were plenty of memorable completions as well. My favorite was a slant to Kincaid that looked like vintage Andre Reed. Josh hit him crossing in full stride. Another tight window throw to Kincaid may have been my 2nd favorite. Will I be able to resist Kincaid on Fantasy Draft night? Probably not. White and Olufoshio had nice pass break ups, Neither Trubisky nor White looked particularly sharp today.

The next drive for Josh looked good. Sideline route to Palmer with the toe tap. Back to Palmer. A quick hit to Knox. then back to Palmer on the far sideline. Today was Palmer’s best day; Coleman and Moore have been among the most consistent performers throughout TC. The crowd-pleasing finale was a red zone throw to a double covered Keon Coleman that he came up with somehow.

One more day in Pittsford! I can’t wait for Saturday and a much better chance at evaluating all the new players.

Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Joe Reagan for his great camp coverage. You can also find Joe on Xwitter @joer869.