1 – Fred Jackson injures hamstringAbout a week into camp is when some injuries surface as the grind of daily practice wears on bodies. Fred Jackson was the most recent victim. He left practice midway through with a hamstring injury.
"Unfortunately we had some injuries. Fred Jackson with a hamstring. It's not a terrible one, but those things last a couple of weeks," said Ryan. "So that was really unfortunate."
Jackson's injury leaves Buffalo without a pair of backs as Boobie Dixon will be sidelined for a few weeks with his calf injury. The club signed undrafted rookie Bronson Hill Thursday to help fill the void and handle the camp workload. The Bills have also made use of WR/PR Marcus Thigpen to take some carries in practice.
2 – Defense wins goal lineFor the first time in training camp the Bills offense went against the defense in a live goal line drill. There were 10 plays and the offense was only credited with one touchdown. On the first play LeSean McCoy managed to squeeze through a crack on the right side behind guard John Miller to break the plane of the goal line for a touchdown.
"He's not just a shake and bake guy and all that," said Ryan of McCoy. "He can stick it in there and that was good to see."
"The guys up front really just got to their keys and blocked well," said McCoy. "I had the easy part, just get in there and get skinny and get in the end zone. With (FB Jerome) Felton he plays a bigger role in the running game so the guys up front mixed in with him it's a great combination."
After that however, the defense shut the door. The second and third units got the last eight plays and the offense couldn't score.
Ty Powell had the best stuff of the series. Bryce Brown got through the hole at the line of scrimmage, but Powell shot the gap and kept Brown from crossing the goal line on a play that was spotted at the one-yard line.
"Our seconds and our thirds obviously the defense had the better of it, not yielding a touchdown from the three on first-and-goal from the three," said Ryan. "That's good to see defensively, not so good on offense there, but you're trying to stick it in there and we've got to find a way."
3 - Gragg steps upStarting TE Charles Clay was held out of team work to rest him and the biggest beneficiary was third-year man Chris Gragg. He made a difficult catch going out of bounds along the left sideline during a third-and-short yardage period to convert a first down on a pass from EJ Manuel.
He had two other catches including a 32-yard touchdown reception from Matt Cassel. After being limited in the spring due to a knee scope in January, Gragg was glad to get the extra work Friday.
"It's always good whenever you get an opportunity to go out and make plays, that's what you want to do," said Gragg. "We had some guys down (resting). We know it's training camp and times like this happen, so it gave me extra work and it gave me some good reps with the ones."
Coming off a Thursday practice where he had three catches for 38 yards in the two-minute series with Tyrod Taylor's group, Gragg is pleased to be stacking productive practices. He knows he has to continue to work on his blocking, but his head coach liked his tenacity in one-on-one pass protection drills.
"Chris is a guy who can really stretch the field," said Ryan. "He's probably had a few mistakes through camp, but I thought today was a really good day for him. We were doing a one-on-one pass protection drill and I thought he did a nice job with that. I like seeing that toughness that he had in that drill."
Bonus NotesThe quarterback rotation*continues to be very even with the offensive staff making a concerted effort to keep the reps balanced.Tyrod Taylor's best throw was a 20-yard touch pass down the sideline toRobert Woods after he beat his man off the line.Matt Cassel's best play was a 32-yard hook-up withGragg for the TD. AndEJ Manuel's best pass was a dart over the middle in the red zone toWoods *for a touchdown.
Other injured players Friday included CB Ron Brooks(foot), WR Chris Hogan(finger) and DT Marcell Dareus(back), but all three are considered minor.
Percy Harvin and Sammy Watkins were both rested on Friday. Both are expected to participate in Saturday's live scrimmage.
Marcell Dareus made good on being challenged by owner Terry Pegula to eat a dog biscuit as part of raising awareness for the SPCA. He in turn challenged linemate Kyle Williams, who said, 'I'll eat anything that he ate!"
Robert Woodsput together another solid day of work. He's been getting consistent separation from the defensive backs and the quarterbacks are finding him.
