Week one of OTAs came to a close Wednesday with Bills head coach Dick Jauron generally pleased with the progress made by his team over the first three days of on-field work.
"All in all it's gone well," said Jauron. "We've got almost everybody here or everybody. It depends on the day so the turnout has been terrific and the effort has been great and we're making advances."
HighlightsThe defense has had a few highlights through the first few days, but turned in more on Wednesday than any other day this week.
Reggie Corner had a forced fumble as he chased down Terrell Owens from behind after he made a catch over the middle and popped the ball out. Owens however, pounced on the ball for the recovery.
Right now Corner has been the first team's nickel cornerback with Drayton Florence the second team nickel back.
Florence pulled in his first interception in the end zone on a pass intended for Roscoe Parrish. The ball appeared to hang up in the air a bit too long.
Keith Ellison alertly sniffed out a bootleg pass to Derek Schouman in the flat and stopped it for what would have no gain.
George Wilson had similar success in reading an end around play as he had Josh Reed dead to rights coming out of the backfield.
Bryan Scott made have had the most acrobatic interception as he leaped along the near sideline to snare a pass intended for Shawn Nelson to pull in the interception.
Fellow safety Donte Whitner also had a pick when a high pass bounced high off of Nelson's hands and right to Whitner.
Offensively it was another good day for the receiving corps. Lee Evans caught seven passes on the day. His best came in 7-on-7 when he effectively split the defense on a deep post with Edwards delivering a bullet pass.
Terrell Owens didn't see as many passes come his way, but made two impressive looking plays. The veteran wideout looked like he was shot out of a cannon coming across the deep middle. He pulled in the pass from Edwards in stride and likely would have reached the end zone thereafter as he quickly outdistanced the defenders in pursuit.
His prettiest catch came on a quick slant when he snared a pass behind out of the air showing his wide catch radius without breaking stride and turned upfield.
Felton Huggins had a good day pulling in a touchdown catch while making four receptions during the practice session. Josh Reed also factored into the attack a bit more.
Edwards progressing
Trent Edwards had his best day of the week on Wednesday. His calls at the line came quicker and his decision making appeared consistent, which enabled him to get into more of a rhythm than he had the first two practices.
In an effort to get more in tune with Owens, Edwards has also made a point of talking with him after the first team offense completes a series and the second team is running plays.
"It's my job to get the ball to him, and my job over these next 15 practices is to get comfortable with him," said Edwards. "We still have a long way to go. I was comfortable communicating what I want and I hope he's comfortable with communicating what he wants, too. We're moving along that direction. It's all new to him, he hasn't really been here and some of this is still new to me, too, so I'm kind of learning and we need to do a good job getting on the same page."
Youboty still on the shelf
Ashton Youboty is still not fully recovered from his plantar fasciitis that landed him on injured reserve last season. Head coach Dick Jauron confirmed that it's up in the air as to whether he'll be on the field prior to training camp.
"He's getting better and better all the time," Jauron said. "We just want to make sure that he's ready for training camp at the start. Through this period we'll jut see how it goes. He's been headed in the right direction now for a number of weeks and we're happy about that."
Stroud not present
Defensive tackle Marcus Stroud participated in Tuesday's practice after watching Monday's workout. On Wednesday Stroud was not in attendance. Head coach Dick Jauron explained that Stroud will have a reduced workload through the OTA sessions.
"It was planned," Jauron said. "We want to make sure that we don't overdo it for a player like that and a very experienced player in the league. He was on for the second day and off and we'll probably go through the whole thing like that."
Notable roles
Aaron Maybin was sprinkled in with the first team defense during the course of practice Wednesday. He was mainly inserted during the run fit portion of practice. Eric Wood and Andy Levitre continue to be inserted into the starting offensive lineup at right and left guard respectively.
Shawn Nelson has seen most of his work with the second and third units.
In and out
Not participating Wednesday were C.J. Hawthorne, P.K. Sam, James Hardy, Cary Harris, Jonathan Scott and John DiGiorgio. DiGiorgio and Hardy are not expected to participate until training camp.
Back at practice Wednesday after missing Tuesday's voluntary workout were Roscoe Parrish and Donte Whitner.
The players do not return to the field until next Tuesday following the Memorial day weekend. They have an afternoon practice scheduled for 2:15 pm.
