The tempo was strong for the second straight day for Bills OTAs and one of the few free agent acquisitions that did not make it in for day one of the voluntary workouts was on hand for day two.
Rhodes is in
Dominic Rhodes was practicing with his new teammates Tuesday and got some reps in during team work, though he was working behind Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in the rotation.
After missing day one Rhodes intends to be at One Bills Drive for the remainder of the workouts.
"I'm going to be here learning the playbook and getting ready for opening day and preseason," Rhodes said. "So I can be the most prepared I can to make some plays."
Stroud back working
After watching Monday's workout, Marcus Stroud jumped into the fold on the top defensive unit stepping back in to his familiar defensive tackle role. Stroud got a fair amount of snaps, but still appears a bit limited. Head coach Dick Jauron will address the media Wednesday with injury updates.
Highlights
An indication of just what kind of tempo there was on the field was evident in the minor scrum between Aaron Maybin and offensive tackle Chris Denman. Maybin captured the edge on the pass play during team work and flushed quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick from the pocket.
When Maybin tried to pursue Denman arm hooked him and spun him around, which Maybin apparently did not appreciate. A shoving match ensued, but stopped shortly after the assistant coaches ordered them to separate.
Aaron Schobel on a running play arm-hooked Marshawn Lynch when he came through the hole and twirled him around as well. It doesn't seem like much, but in the reduced contact setting of OTAs it's more than usually goes on.
Defensively, the best day was had by Terrence McGee, who had a pass breakup on a throw intended for Terrell Owens. Later McGee made an interception on an underthrown ball down the near sideline for Owens.
McGee would've had a very good chance to return it for a touchdown under real game conditions as he quickly had a convoy of blockers out in front of him.
"Trent (Edwards), after practice (Monday), he was kind of getting on me about how he got me, so I was happy to know that he was going to try it again," said McGee. "But I was just happy to get my hands on the ball and just make a play, so like I said it feels good to get the pick."
Leodis McKelvin also closed quickly on an out route by Owens to post a pass breakup as well.
But Owens had a few nice plays of his own. He pulled in a deep out along the far sideline in front of McKelvin. He also had a good catch in traffic over the middle.
Lee Evans, Josh Reed and Derek Schouman were also frequent targets during team work and 7-on-7.
Shawn Nelson made a couple of nice plays down the seam catching passes on back-to-back plays for what would have been 15 to 20 yard gains. Nelson has been split out a good portion of the time over the first two days of practices.
Justin Jenkins had a pair of good catches including one that left his defensive back still heading downfield after he broke off a route for a 20-yard pickup.
Defensively, Chris Kelsay and Kyle Williams turned in batted passes. And tryout signee Kyle Ward had a pass breakup.
Notable rolesWith Donte Whitner and Roscoe Parrish absent, Steve Johnson stepped in as the fourth receiver, while Ko Simpson was with the starting defensive unit at free safety. Bryan Scott was at strong safety.
Rookie sixth-round pick Cary Harris was not participating on Tuesday, which afforded Kyle Ward reps with the second defensive unit at left cornerback. Undrafted signee Lydell Sargeant also rotated in. Filling in for Simpson at second team free safety was Dustin Fox.
Special teamsSpecial teams coordinator Bobby April put his players through the paces at the start of the workout as the punt team worked on pre-snap reads and formation. Gunners and coverage players worked on running down balls headed for the end zone and slapping them back onto the field of play before they reached the goal line to avoid a touchback.
They performed the drill two ways, running straight at the goal line and flipping the ball back onto the field and parallel to the goal line where volleyballs were used to get the most out of the drill as they bounce truer than footballs.
Punt returners went outside to field punts from Brian Moorman. Fred Jackson, Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin were part of the rotation. Roscoe Parrish was not in attendance on Tuesday.
At long snapper was incumbent Ryan Neill along with Garrison Sanborn and tight end Jonathan Stupar.
In and out
Not participating on Tuesday were Cary Harris, C.J. Hawthorne, Ashton Youboty, John DiGiorgio and James Hardy. Corey McIntyre, Roscoe Parrish and Donte Whitner were not present.
