1. Mitch Morse moving in a positive direction
Bills center Mitch Morse took another step closer to full medical clearance at the team's joint practices with the Panthers at Wofford College on Tuesday. Morse, in a red non-contact jersey, was dressed for football related activities.
"He'll be out there in pads," said head coach Sean McDermott. "At this point other than that nothing has changed. He's still in the protocol."
It's the first time the Bills offensive line leader is in pads since being placed in the concussion protocol early in camp. If Morse is doing football related activities on a non-contact basis, however it means that he has advanced to step four of the five-step return to play protocol. The last step is full medical clearance.
"We'll see," said McDermott on where things are headed with Morse. "It is moving in a positive direction."
2. Mixing and matching to continue on O-line
At the team's last two practices prior to leaving for the Carolinas, the Bills offensive staff was still mixing and matching line combinations up front.
Cody Ford played both guard and tackle. Spencer Long and Jon Feliciano played both center and guard at times over the weekend.
Coach McDermott said that would continue in the joint practices this week.
"It's been good for us to establish some competition and some position flexibility," he said. "That'll benefit us in the long run."
The top seven linemen moving through the different combinations with the first unit, who have been healthy, were Dion Dawkins, Quinton Spain, Jon Feliciano, Spencer Long, Cody Ford and Ty Nsekhe.
3. Bills fans turning out
There was a healthy stream of Bills fans making their way to the Wofford campus this morning for the first of two joint practice sessions between the two teams. Whether they outnumber Panthers fans remains to be seen, but coach McDermott certainly appreciated the support.
"It's awesome. We appreciate that," said McDermott. "We're worldwide. Our buses were pulling out this morning at the hotel and there was a car with Bills bumper stickers on it and the plates were the state of New York. That's great to see."
Bills Backers chapters in South Carolina as well as North Carolina were making plans to watch the practice sessions.
