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Top 3 things we learned from Day 8 of Bills Training Camp | 2024

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The Bills were back in Rochester Sunday afternoon for their eighth training camp practice at St. John Fisher University. Buffalo now has three more days of camp before its first preseason game on Saturday.

Here's what we learned from Sunday's practice, including an impressive two-minute drill series from Josh Allen.

Injuries starting to mount

A total of nine players missed practice today with various injuries:

  • S Mike Edwards (hamstring, week to week)
  • S Cole Bishop (shoulder, week to week)
  • WR Chase Claypool (toe, day-to-day)
  • RB Ty Johnson (hamstring, day-to-day)
  • OL La'el Collins (knee, day-to-day)
  • OL Travis Clayton (shoulder, day-to-day)
  • LB Eddie Ulofoshio (rib, day-to-day)
  • LB Nicholas Morrow (core muscle, day-to-day)
  • TE Dawson Knox (groin/vet rest)

Head coach Sean McDermott spoke about his level of concern on the injuries.

"It's hard to develop when you're not on the field," he said. "But we'll find a way through it, we've done it before. You know, full confidence in the medical staff to get those guys back as soon as we can and we develop the guys that are out on the field."

We'll get further clarity on which guys will be available for Week 1 of the Preseason later this week when McDermott speaks to the media again on Thursday.

A padless practice, but plenty of work put in

The Bills held one of their longer practices of camp so far, lasting just over two hours and featuring multiple sessions of 11-on-11 team drills before ending with a two-minute drill.

Players did not wear pads but there were still many highlights throughout the day with back and forth battles between the offense & defense.

The Bills opened up team drills in a 6-on-7 setting with one fewer player on the offensive side. Even with defense having a numbers advantage, Josh Allen still made magic happen. After a couple shorter completions, Allen lofted a beautifully thrown ball to RB James Cook on a wheel route for a 30-yard touchdown.

Cook shared after practice that while he loves getting to show his versatility in the pass game, his focus in camp has been being a stronger, more well-rounded running back.

"Just being more patient in the running game.Try to hold up in pass protection, just being more consistent," he said.

On the next play, safety Taylor Rapp showed great awareness in coverage to knock away a pass intended for WR Tyrell Shavers to end the period. Rapp has been with the first team defense all throughout camp and seems poised to be one of the leaders on defense this year.

"He's really ascended into a more of a full-time starter," McDermott said Sunday. "But also we're counting on him to lead, to help lead our defense and be one of those true signal callers back there orchestrating the defense along with TB (Terrel Bernard)."

In the wake of injuries to Edwards and Bishop, Buffalo signed Kareem Jackson and Terrell Burgess last week. Sunday marked the first time either player had participated in team drills; both rotated in with the third team.

"We haven't been able to rep them much because we've been trying to ramp them up the right way," McDermott said prior to practice. "So I'll know more today, it will be the first day I'll be able to evaluate them."

When Buffalo switched to 11-on-11s, the defensive line and secondary for the first and second teams stood out on several series. LB Von Miller had a "would be" sack of Allen, DT Eli Ankou had two sacks on Mitchell Trubisky and DT Gable Steveson disrupted a play with the third team with a batted down ball at the line of scrimmage.

Allen and TE Dalton Kincaid weren't on the same page in their first series of team drills, almost leading to an interception by CB Christian Benford who ended up dropping the potential turnover. The offense's biggest gain of their first series was a 30-yard play to TE Zach Davidson. Both Davidson and Quintin Morris saw extended work with the first team offense due to Knox's absence.

One of the battles to watch throughout the day was WR Keon Coleman working against CB Christian Benford. The third-year corner had tight coverage against the rookie on multiple occasions which forced Allen to look elsewhere in his progression.

However, Coleman and Allen connected for the highlight of the day on a scramble drill where the Bills QB rolled out to his right, directed Coleman to break back a step to his left and threw a 50/50 ball in the rookie's direction where he made a leaping grab for the touchdown. The play drew a big smile from Allen who has been impressed with the chemistry he's developed with Coleman.

"His football I.Q., in my opinion, is off the charts," Allen shared last week. "He understands defenses, he understands leverage when he's running routes. Again, I think too just the catch radius that he has, you can just throw one up, and he's gonna find a way to either go get it or break it up."

Additional standouts with the second and third units include undrafted rookie CB Te'Cory Couch, and CB Ja'Marcus Ingram. Couch had a "would be" interception of Shane Buechelle. The QB threw the ball as the play was getting blown dead and Couch jumped in front of the pass intended for K.J. Hamler. Ingram ended the two-minute drill by the second team units with a pass breakup against Andy Isabella to force a fourth down.

Allen leads TD drive in two-minute drill

To close practice, the Bills went into their two-minute drill scenario. After having an inconsistent showing in Friday's Return of the Blue & Red, the Buffalo offense found its rhythm Sunday.

Getting the ball in their own territory with one minute on the clock, Allen led a nine-play scoring drive where he connected with four different receivers. Allen started the drive with a quick completion to Dalton Kincaid then scrambled outside the pocket to move into plus territory.

With 40 seconds left, Allen hit Mack Hollins in stride for a gain of 15 yards, and a late shove out of bounds by the defense resulted in an additional 15 yards to set Buffalo up in the red zone.

The next two plays, Benford broke up back-to-back passes on go routes to Coleman. Both passes were well thrown but it was Benford who made exceptional plays to prevent the score.

Allen then hit Kincaid over the middle with 12 seconds to go to get the ball down to the one-yard line. The offense finished off the drive with a touchdown from Allen to Coleman on a slant route with Benford in coverage; the Bills went for two and succeeded on an Allen scramble to the left side.

Center Connor McGovern said that the offense as a whole has been increasing their level of communication throughout camp compared to last year so that everyone from the offensive line to the receivers on the outside are on the same page.

"Where we're at is better than at any point last year, just how all five of us (linemae) are communicating," McGovern said. "Making sure we're all on the same page, then turning back, talking to Josh and he's correcting us or he's making sure that our calls are correct."

Scroll to see the best photos from day 8 of the 2024 Buffalo Bills Training Camp. This gallery is presented by Connors & Ferris, LLP.

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