The best news to come out of Bills OTAs Wednesday did not have anything to do with the players on the field. Fifth-round pick Ed Wang, out of action since sustaining what appeared to be a serious left leg injury over the weekend, has a much better prognosis than anyone thought just a few days ago.
Head coach Chan Gailey, who had hoped he hadn't lost Wang for the season, provided the update on the rookie lineman.
"His injury was not as serious as maybe we had first thought and it looks like he's got a chance to be back by the first minicamp," said Gailey. "It's a relief for us as coaches. It was great."
Buffalo's mandatory minicamp, which will close out spring workouts, begins in two weeks on June 23rd.
In the interim 2009 practice squad player Nick Hennessey has been manning the left tackle spot with the second unit in Wang's absence. Hennessey was previously at the right tackle position with the second team.
QB UpdateRyan Fitzpatrick was the first man through in the quarterback rotation during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11. Fitzpatrick got an extra series in 7-on-7 in comparison to the other two veteran signal callers. Trent Edwards followed Fitzpatrick in 7-on-7, but Brian Brohm went after Fitzpatrick in 11-on-11.
Brohm had perhaps the best red zone series of the day during 11-on-11. He went 6-6 passing and made a play on the move, executed a well-timed screen that likely would've gone for a touchdown, beat the blitz with another quick pass and hit tight end Michael Matthews for a touchdown.
Ryan Fitzpatrick had one of the better passes of the day dropping a pass into the back corner of the end zone to James Hardy for a score.
Red zoneWednesday's OTA practice had a clear focus on the red zone, as every play in both 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 was spent inside the 20-yard line. It was the most extensive amount of time the Bills have spent at the end of the field in one practice thus far this spring.
"Everything speeds up in the red zone and you have to practice that on a regular basis or you don't get a feel for that," said Gailey. "You're trying to introduce the base concepts right now, but as time goes on because we'll continue to practice that on a regular basis. A lot of games are won and lost in the red zone."
Observation notesPaul Posluszny was sporadically taking play calls from defensive coordinator George Edwards to call in the huddle during team work. Andra Davis still did the majority of play calling, but Posluszny is being called upon to handle when subpackages come on the field.
"Andra Davis does the majority of it," said Posluszny. "I do it going back and forth in our nickel packages. Right now Andra Davis with the first team defense is doing the play calling."
Rookie sixth-round pick Arthur Moats was sprinkled in for a couple of first team reps here and there at inside linebacker. On one play he did a good job keeping up with Lee Evans who ran a route underneath him.
With Terrence McGee still not participating coming off of offseason shoulder surgery Leodis McKelvin and Drayton Florence have been the two outside corners with the first unit.
Also not participating was rookie receiver David Nelson. Notables not in attendance were Marshawn Lynch, Brian Moorman, Shawn Nelson, Roscoe Parrish and Aaron Schobel.
HighlightsThe defense had the better of play at the outset of red zone work before the offense came back with plays to answer as the series wore on.
Leodis McKelvin got things started with an interception on the third play from scrimmage in the front right corner of the end zone.
Reggie Corner almost followed it up with an INT of his own, but he couldn't hold onto the ball settling for a pass breakup.
Chris Ellis and John McCargo teamed up to record a would-be tackle for loss after blitz pressure from Keith Ellison forced a dump off pass to C.J. Spiller.
And Ellis Lankster raked the ball away from James Hardy to prevent a touchdown catch.
On offense Brian Brohm eluded pressure on a broken play and hit Jonathan Stupar, who toed the sideline to pull in a touchdown reception.
Ryan Fitzpatrick had good anticipation on a touchdown pass in the back right corner of the end zone to James Hardy.
Chad Simpson had a well executed screen play as there was a team of blockers out in front and he quickly shot for the end zone for a touchdown.
The tight ends really racked up the plays on Wednesday. Stupar, Derek Schouman and Michael Matthews all found the end zone during the red zone periods.
Chad Jackson had the catch with the greatest degree of difficulty. Jackson did a one-handed over the shoulder grab to pull in a pass in the back right corner of the end zone.
ScheduleThe Bills close out week 3 of OTAs Thursday with a 12:05 pm practice and we'll have full coverage on Buffalobills.com.
