The mass exodus west on the New York State Thruway commenced Wednesday afternoon following Buffalo's final training camp practice session at St. John Fisher. The no pads practice went almost 90 minutes as the players were pretty happy with what they were able to accomplish in camp.
I thought we had a good camp," said Paul Posluszny. "We improved on a lot of things that we really wanted to focus on. I thought we really got better as the weeks went on. The good thing is that camp is just the start though. We still have a couple of preseason games left and some more time to get ready for the regular season, but we got off to a good start."
Despite not participating in practice after suffering a bruised thigh in the Tuesday night workout, quarterback Trent Edwards was also encouraged by the potential the offense holds.
"I think we made a lot of progress," Edwards said. "I know we had a few guys dinged up here and there throughout the camp, but I thought we did a good job in terms of our installation and our play calling. I like the diversity we had in our offense in this camp and I'm excited and anxious to see where this offense goes this season."
Injury update
Also not participating in addition to Edwards on the last day of camp were Roscoe Parrish (knee), James Hardy (hamstring), John DiGiorgio (calf), Jon Banks (hamstring) and Derek Schouman (knee).
Aside from Schouman who is out indefinitely, the most serious injury appears to be that of rookie linebacker Jon Banks who suffered a hamstring pull.
"It just kind of came up on him last night and it was worse today," said Dick Jauron. "Right now Bud (Carpenter) is not overly optimistic about that, but he is not ruling him out for the game."
Marshawn Lynch participated in practice as he had just minor swelling in his knee from the collision with Edwards Tuesday night.
"He moved very well," said Dick Jauron of his performance in practice Wednesday. "Bud (Carpenter) said he had minimal swelling today. He is a very tough guy and he just loves to play."
Matt Murphy took in practice with his left arm in a sling. He's decided to wait three to four weeks to see if his partially torn rotator cuff can heal up to the point where he can play. If that's unsuccessful his season will be over and he'll be placed on injured reserve.
Special teams update
Special teams coordinator Bobby April had his hands team fielding bouncing footballs much like baseball infielders. Assistants coaches would throw passes awkwardly at the ground to give the hands team some unusual bounces.
Some of the names of players on the hands team included George Wilson, Donnie Spragan, Bryan Scott, John Wendling, Dustin Fox, Marcus Buggs and Keith Ellison.
Punt blocks were also a focus where one player would rush off the edge or up the middle block the punt and then track down the loose ball.
Highlights
Ko Simpson made a big play early as he pulled in a J.P. Losman pass for an interception on the second play from scrimmage during 7-on-7 and returned it for what likely would have been a touchdown.
C.J. Hawthorne ran a good crossing route and Gibran Hamdan hit for a big gainer. Hamdan also hit Scott Mayle on an intermediate crossing route during the same series.
Marcus Buggs came up with his first INT when he scooped a bobbled pass that was tipped by Ashton Youboty off the back of intended receiver Jason Jones.
In 11-on-11 Losman found Josh Reed for a 30-yard pickup along the near sideline.
Youboty had another pass breakup as he refused to bite on a stop and go route by Justin Jenkins and successfully knocked the pass away.
And Corey Mace had a batted pass on an attempt by Hamdan during 11-on-11.
Buffalo's practice schedule resumes Thursday at One Bills Drive in Orchard Park with an 11:15 workout. All practices are now closed to the public.
