For the fans training camp ended Tuesday evening, but for the players there was one more practice late Wednesday morning before they could put a wrap on their preparations at St. John Fisher for the 2012 season. Veteran safety George Wilson was very encouraged about the camp the Bills had this summer.
"Just seeing where we were as an organization and a team in the past to where we are now I really think this was the most productive camp we've had as a team overall," said Wilson. "It's been a different mentality from day one of our offseason program.
"We've continued to talk about the direction we want to go in when we reported here on July 25th and still to this day guys don't buy into the media hype or the fan hype because we know ultimately it's up to us to convert our roster and what we have on paper to the playing field and we have to continue to push the envelope and get better and be ready when we take the field in New York on Week 1."
Head coach Chan Gailey was pleased with the amount of ground his coaches and players were able to cover over the past three weeks.
"Camp was good. I really think we accomplished a great deal," he said. "We were able to evaluate a lot of players. I think our players got better during this time. They had to fight through some hot days, some rainy days, they had to fight through. It was good for us."
"I thought we made a lot of progress," said Ryan Fitzpatrick. "We found out some things about some of the younger guys. I think we're headed in the right direction offensively. There are a lot of things we worked on and a lot of new wrinkles and I think we did a good job."
Prepping for MinnesotaLast week there was no game planning for Washington. This week, though there might not be a specified game plan, the Bills did spend more time preparing for the different looks they'll see from the Vikings on both offense and defense in practice Wednesday.
Both the first and second team offensive units went against a scout team defense, and the first and second team defensive units went against a scout team offense that was executing some of what the Bills expect to see from Minnesota.
Rookies make goodBuffalo's draft class made some good progress in camp. Not surprisingly, the top half of the class stood out the most with Stephon Gilmore leading the way in terms of consistency.
"I played well and I got better every day," said Gilmore. "I have learned so much since I have been here to now, so I think I just have to keep taking it one day at a time and I will be good. I would not say I had goals; I just wanted to come out and get better and gain my team's trust and come out and compete on defense."
Second-round pick Cordy Glenn held his own in the left tackle competition during camp, which will continue now at One Bills Drive. T.J. Graham proved to be a quick study of the offense and Ron Brooks and Nigel Bradham saw quality reps with the first and second defensive units and turned in their share of plays in the practice setting.
Fitz feeling chemistry with receiversRyan Fitzpatrick's on field chemistry with Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler is obvious, but the Bills starting quarterback has developed a rapport with several other wideouts on the roster through camp.
"Right away David Nelson started out strong and then didn't practice much, but he's a guy that I know I can rely on," said Fitzpatrick. "I think my relationship with Derek Hagan and Donald Jones has really grown in terms of getting comfortable with those guys. Making sure we're on the same page in how they run their routes. So we've made a lot of progress in that regard through training camp and I think it's just going to get better."
ScheduleThe Bills have a walk through on Thursday before departing for Minneapolis for their Friday night preseason game against Minnesota.
