The Bills morning practice saw some more plays made by the team's defensive backs. After a big interception day Sunday, Buffalo's secondary again was making plays on the ball. But there was also a quarterback that had arguably his best practice in camp.
Brian Brohm, who got the reps with the second unit Monday morning, put together one of his better series in terms of consistency. In 7-on-7 his six-play series began with a throw to the flat that was deftly caught by Marcus Easley who showed strong hands in pulling in the reception despite tight coverage along the near sideline.
On the next play he hit Lee Evans for a short gain in traffic. That was followed by a completion to Huggins. Then he fired a bullet over the middle to Evans, who had gained good separation on the play. That was followed by a 35-yard strike down the near sideline to a streaking Chad Jackson.
The series was capped by a completion to Naaman Roosevelt on the far side of the field.
Brohm's arm looked lively Monday as his passes were crisp with some very good velocity and he was decisive in delivering the ball.
"I'm just trying to get better every single day and try to focus on the things that I can control," said Brohm.
In the morning session Ryan Fitzpatrick and rookie Levi Brown split the third team reps, with Fitzpatrick expected to see second team work in the night practice.
HighlightsThe defense got things started early with Leodis McKelvin getting his first interception in camp. Ironically, it happened in the run game portion of practice, when the offense tried to pull a play action fake, but McKelvin stuck with his assignment and made the play.
Three plays into 7-on-7 work Drayton Florence got his second interception in two days as he snared a pass in the flat that he took the other way.
And Reggie Corner broke up a pass on the far side of the field that was intended for Felton Huggins.
"We're always going back and forth competing, offensively and defensively, as wide outs and DB's," said Corner. "Sometimes they make catches and get the best of things, and sometimes DB's get the upper hand. It goes back and forth."
Kyle Williams sniffed out a screen play and had a 'would be' tackle for loss.
On the offensive side Trent Edwards hit Lee Evans deep down the far sideline on the first play of 7-on-7. Evans also showed strong hands in tight coverage on a pass from Brohm.
Chad Jackson had the aforementioned big pass play down the near sideline for big yardage.
Naaman Roosevelt made a difficult one-handed catch down the far sideline in tight coverage, but could not quite get both feet in bounds.
Donald Jones made a good grab over the middle on a pass from Brohm in 11-on-11.
In and outThe morning practice saw a handful of new non-participants. Most noticeable was rookie OLB Danny Batten, whose right arm was in a sling after suffering an apparent shoulder injury Sunday.
Also spectating Monday morning were Demetrius Bell, Kawika Mitchell, Keith Ellison, Spencer Johnson and Marcus Stroud.
New to the non-participation list were Cordaro Howard, John Destin and Ed Wang. Wang was not in attendance.
Down a couple of offensive tackles, veteran Kirk Chambers saw action as the second team left tackle with Andre Ramsey manning left guard with the second unit. The rest of the second group consisted of rookie Sean Allen in the pivot, Nick Hennessey at right guard and rookie Kyle Calloway at right tackle.
On defense with both Spencer Johnson and Marcus Stroud sidelined, John McCargo got first team reps at left defensive end alongside Kyle Williams and Dwan Edwards.
Terrence McGee also appeared to be scaled back in team work with Leodis McKelvin taking over left cornerback duties with the first unit on defense. When the team went to the nickel package and Drayton Florence was in the slot, Ashton Youboty and Reggie Corner alternated reps with the first unit at outside corner.
NIGHT PRACTICE NOTESFor the first time in training camp the Bills got their red zone work underway with all of their team work taking place from the 20-yard line in.
"We had worked on it a little bit in OTAs and minicamp and this is a refresher course so to speak and that's probably why you saw some wide open things and some ugly throws because there was a lot of junk going on both sides trying to remember what to do on offense and on defense," said Gailey. "It was a great introduction to red zone. We've got to get started on it. Two minute comes in in a day or two or those are two big parts of offense and defense."
Trent Edwards got off to a good start early hitting Shawn Nelson and David Nelson for touchdowns on the first two plays from scrimmage. The defense did tighten up however after that during that particular series.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, who worked with the second unit in the night practice Monday pegged Chad Jackson in the back of the end zone underneath the uprights with a dart for a touchdown.
Fitzpatrick hooked up with James Hardy who made a sliding catch for a touchdown, and he also found Jonathan Stupar in the left flat, who turned up the field to reach the front left corner of the end zone for a score.
David Nelson would pull in two more touchdowns before red zone work concluded. The undrafted rookie is a silky smooth kind of receiver that is deceptive in gaining separation. His tall 6'5" frame is apparently attractive to the offensive staff, because Nelson has been getting reps with the first team offense as the fourth wideout when the unit goes to a spread formation.
Roscoe Parrish had a couple of good looking touchdowns. On the first, Parrish showed good feet and hands as he pulled in a touchdown pass from Edwards near the pylon in the front right corner of the end zone and got both feet down despite some tight coverage.
Later in 11-on-11 red zone work Parrish was wide open on a busted coverage and Edwards found him with Parrish high-stepping into the end zone on the far side of the field.
Marshawn Lynch was again making use of his bobbing and weaving style on his way through the defense on some run plays.
Chad Jackson also ran a sharp slant route with Fitzpatrick finding him for a touchdown.
And Brian Brohm hit James Hardy on a quick out route that Hardy turned up field and into the end zone for a score late in 11-on-11 work.
"I think any time you're in the red zone there are always special plays you're going to run against certain teams," said Brohm. "Week by week it's probably going to be a little bit different, but we definitely put a big focus on it."
Defensively George Wilson had a pass breakup on a throw intended for Shawn Nelson near the goal line on the far side of the field.
And Aaron Maybin had a quarterback pressure with Fitzpatrick getting rid of the ball just in time on a dump off to Chad Simpson.
Lineup notesDemetrius Bell was again used sparingly in 11-on-11 work in the evening practice after not participating in the morning session. Most of the time however, Jamon Meredith was practicing with the first unit on the blind side.
With Eric Wood getting the night practice off, Andre Ramsey was plugged in at right guard with the first unit.
The second offensive line from left to right looked like this on Monday night. Kirk Chambers, Nick Hennessey, Sean Allen, Jason Watkins, Kyle Calloway.
At receiver, Steve Johnson remains the number two wideout with Parrish in the slot and David Nelson coming on as the fourth receiver in spread packages.
Running primarily with the second unit appears to be Chad Jackson, James Hardy and Felton Huggins.
Chris Ellis has been getting a ton of work at the strong side linebacker position with Chris Kelsay sidelined.
The cornerback contingent still has McGee, Florence and McKelvin as the top three with Florence in the slot in nickel situations. The two outside corners with the second unit have been Reggie Corner and Ashton Youboty, with Ellis Lankster coming in for nickel packages. But Corner moves to the slot with Lankster taking his spot on the outside.
In and outThe list was a bit longer on the number of players sidelined. Among some of the newer names were Danny Batten, Cordaro Howard, John Destin and Ed Wang. Gailey gave an update on Batten and Wang, and also briefly described the injury suffered by Howard.
"He got his bell rung and we're being very cautious with that," Gailey said.
ScheduleThe Bills have a single practice scheduled for Tuesday at 3 pm.
