1 - Glenn gets some actionAll along the plan was to get Bills starting left tackle Cordy Glenn ready to play Week 1 of the regular season as he battled his way back from a nagging foot ailment. No one expected to see Glenn in the preseason, let alone the preseason finale when most starters sit. But Glenn started the game at left tackle.
"Really it's about acclimating him to the game and game speed. We practice fast, but at the same time we want to get him out there on the field so that next week wasn't his first look at it really for this season," said head coach Sean McDermott.
Glenn did not go the entire first series. He went seven plays and then came off before the offensive unit finished with a field goal on the drive. He returned for offense's second possession before his night was over.
"We had him on a rep count," McDermott said. "I thought he did a really good job. Credit to our training staff and Cordy for getting out there. This is a step in the right direction."
The reps could prove valuable for Glenn, who had not seen live action since last season. It should only prepare him all the more for Week 1 against the Jets.
2 - Right cornerback role a two-man race?The starting right cornerback role was still an open competition heading into Thursday night's game against Detroit. But what was thought to be a three-man competition may have been reduced to two. Initially Kevon Seymour and Shareece Wright were the two main competitors before E.J. Gaines worked his way into the position battle after arriving from Los Angeles via trade.
Then Seymour missed his second game of the preseason at Baltimore with a shoulder injury. His lack of time on the field may have made it hard to stay in the race. Against the Lions Seymour lined up in the slot early, a role he had not manned for a couple of weeks. He later saw some time outside, but it looked like Gaines and Wright were pitted against one another in the first team defense with Tre'Davious White not playing.
Coach McDermott chose to only address Seymour's versatility.
"He does offer position flexibility," said McDermott of Seymour. "He's played inside and he's played outside. He played both tonight as you saw and did some of that last year as well. Being able to play two positions is important and there's value in that."
While Seymour is shown himself capable in the slot and outside, missing two preseason games cost the coaches valuable evaluation time.
"We were looking at a couple of positions of competition where we had some battles going on," said McDermott. "For us and the position we're in it was good to take that fourth game and see our guys get out there and compete."
3 - Peterman shows rhythmThroughout much of the preseason if there's one trait that rookie QB Nate Peterman has demonstrated on a consistent basis, it's an ability to throw in rhythm and on time. In Rick Dennison's timing-based passing game, it's proven to be a valuable strength.
Peterman hit six of his first seven passes and led a pair of scoring drives in his only action in the team's final preseason game against Detroit. He finished his night 9-for-11 passing for 81 yards with a passer rating of 97.3.
"Obviously for me I wish we could have scored two touchdowns," said Peterman who led a field goal drive and touchdown drive. "I was a little behind Nick O'Leary on that third down throw. There are always things to get better on."
Aside from a couple of designed roll outs, Dennison stuck to a three-step drop passing game for a good portion of the time to reduce the danger of pass pressure with Peterman being the only healthy quarterback in the top three going into the game.
"I thought he was sharp. He moved the offense," said McDermott. "I liked what he did and he got into a rhythm. I thought Rico (Dennison) did a good job. Then we mixed in some runs, and some passes and stayed pretty balanced and we were able to get points on the first drive, which was pretty important."
