1. Josh Allen's football plans for the summer break
The Bills will be gone for the next six weeks after they conduct their final day of minicamp in Orchard Park on Thursday. Even though they'll be away from organized football, many players will be working on their individual games to ramp up for training camp and the regular season.
Included among them is of course Josh Allen, who has a few key items on his June-July calendar.
First among them is more weight room work than he even does at One Bills Drive.
"I'll be working out," he said. "Actually I'll probably lift more during the break to get in the best physical condition possible."
Allen also plans to get back to work with Jordan Palmer at his QB Summit for stretches of his break to keep his footwork and throwing mechanics sound.
"I don't know how many times I will get down there, but I'll be making sure that my mechanics are where they need to be or improving in certain areas," he said. "I trust him and he's got the resources to help. He's been a huge help for me."
Buffalo's quarterback also intends to set up some dates to get out with his receivers to get some throwing sessions in before they return for training camp at St. John Fisher.
"I'm trying to set something up where some of the guys can get together," Allen said. "Whether I have to fly out somewhere or fly out to multiple places to throw to my guys that's what I'm going to do."
2. Glad to have Morse and Beasley back working
Cole Beasley is still a limited participant coming off core muscle surgery and Mitch Morse, who had a similar procedure got his first two "full go" practice sessions of the spring this week. Knowing how critical those two will be to the fortunes of Buffalo's offense in 2019, Allen was pleased to have them in whatever capacity possible as spring workouts quickly come to a close.
"Obviously they've been sidelined for a bit, and Cole still isn't doing team stuff, but just having him run routes on air, seeing how his body moves and how he gets in and out of cuts (has value)," said Allen. "Seeing how low he is to the ground. His hips are so low to the ground. It's crazy how shifty he is."
Morse got all the first team reps in the two practices so far this week during the team segments of practice as he and Allen try to get their on-field rapport off the ground.
"We're catching up there," said Allen. "We've got to be one person this year and that's what he and I are working on right now. Having that open line of communication and trying to see the same things at the same time. We're working on that, but it's been awesome to have them both back doing things with the team."
3. Seeing growth in Tyree Jackson
Josh Allen got his first up-close look at Tyree Jackson at Jordan Palmer's QB Summit this past winter and spring during the pre-draft process. Jackson was busy prepping for the NFL Combine and pre-draft workouts. Allen was honing his craft in preparation for his second NFL season.
Fast forward four months later and the two are now teammates.
Having worked alongside Jackson longer than any one of his other teammates, with the exception of UB undrafted rookie cornerback Cam Lewis, Allen has seen good growth from the rookie QB.
"I've seen a lot of growth in him," said Allen. "Working out with him the first couple of times and seeing how he acted, threw the ball, and to see how much he's changed and how focused he is right now. Not that he wasn't focused before, but I think he's really stepped into his mindset where he understands he's here to get better.
"He's done a great job. He's been pushing me and Matt (Barkley) and we've been pushing him. We're trying to get the best out of each other in meetings and ask questions of one another in the meeting room. It's very competitive in those rooms and that's how we want it. That's how coach Daboll always has it and seeing who can answer the questions faster.
"He's on top of his game, learning the playbook. He's coming up to me in practice and talking to me and trying to calm me down if things went wrong. Just his habits like that have already been super awesome."
