August 4, 2022: public day 8 of Bills training camp
We’ve made it to August and Week 2 of training camp. The battles for roster position are heating up, along with the temperatures, and sparks are flying as fights have broken out in each of the padded practices so far.
The Buffalo Bills held a walkthrough during their regularly scheduled practice time on Wednesday, so reporters and fans weren’t present. The fans, reporters, players, and coaches all return to the field on Thursday for the 8th public practice of camp, and 9th practice overall. We’re more than halfway there.
The press is very limited in what they are allowed to share, but fans are in the seats (if they were able to procure tickets ahead of time) and some of them have been sharing lots of info on Twitter.
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has repeatedly helmed the microphone, along with his coordinators. A host of other players have also spoken with reporters, but not Josh Allen, who we assume will make some public Q&A eventually.
Practice starts at 9:45 AM while the gates at Fisher open at 8:45. Tickets are required and sold out.
Here are the biggest storylines so far in camp:
- We used the off day on Wednesday to round up all the players who have missed time with injuries during Bills camp. The list is extensive and contains 15 players. Read the whole thing here.
- S Jordan Poyer left practice on Tuesday with a hyperextended elbow and will miss a few weeks of camp. He should be ready for the season. His running mate, Micah Hyde, went down and was carted off with an injury on Friday. McDermott said he is day to day with hip soreness. He returned in a very limited fashion on Monday, missing only one full day of practice. He remained limited Tuesday.
- Fourth-year DT Ed Oliver is absolutely dominating in training camp and looks to continue that upward trend into the season.
- At the end of the first day of padded practice on Saturday, Josh Allen started a fight with Jordan Phillips. Allen says the competitive juices were flowing out there and it’s not a big deal. Boogie Basham came out swinging on Day 2 with another fight.
- Sixth-round cornerback Christian Benford is drawing the eyes of several beat reporters at camp and is pushing for one of the final roster spots.
- Jamison Crowder has missed every practice since the first at SJF, opening the door for Isaiah McKenzie and rookie Khalil Shakir to receive big snap counts with the ones and twos. He was back but limited on Monday after missing a week.
- With Spencer Brown limited and Saffold out, the Bills have been rotating a pair of offensive linemen at both right tackle and left guard. David Quessenberry and Tommy Doyle have been getting that run. Ryan Bates and Dion Dawkins have both missed time, as well, so we’re seeing a pretty clear pecking order on the offensive line. Even Bobby Hart and Cody Ford got some first-team reps on this week.
- CB Tre’Davious White and OG Ike Boettger begin the year on the PUP list, as expected. They are both recovering from serious injuries suffered during the 2021 season. Joining them on PUP is DT Eli Ankou.
- Penciled-in starter Rodger Saffold was in a car accident recently and suffered what general manager Brandon Beane referred to as “cracked ribs”. He begins the year on the Non-Football Injury list and a timetable for his return hasn’t been set. You’d think at this point it’d be all about pain tolerance, but with Saffold, he’s a veteran who has worked with new o-line coach Aaron Kromer before.
- Two pending free agents have been talking potential contract extensions. Jordan Poyer’s agent was in attendance as camp opened and Dawson Knox was optimistic about staying in Buffalo. Poyer’s injury complicates matters.
I’ve included the Bills Reporters Twitter list to follow along with the updates from the local beat reporters.
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