It was a rainy night at St. John Fisher Tuesday as practice was delayed for 15 minutes, and then after 30 minutes of work a torrential downpour forced the team to the fieldhouse to wait it out. Fortunately the rains let up and the Bills could finish their evening of work.
Head coach Dick Jauron knows there are some benefits to practicing in challenging elements, but worries about the health of the players on a slick surface.
"When you have to play on a wet field, I guess it probably does help you, I'd just as soon avoid it," said Jauron. "I worry about guys slipping and that kind of thing sliding around the field, but it is good to handle the ball because you have got to handle the ball in any weather."
Trent Edwards, who faced some challenging weather last season as a rookie handled the heavy rains in stride and performed well after the team came back on the field despite the wet and heavy footballs.
"Physically I've just grown and gotten stronger and hopefully that will help me in the time when it comes to play in the rain and the bad weather," said Edwards. "But also mentally I've been in that situation before and I know certain throws I've made that I can change and mentally I can go through that in my head and try and fix that and make sure I don't make those throws again."
Edwards on the whole has been very accurate in camp, and that didn't change much Tuesday night despite the wet conditions, though the majority of the passes were shorter in light of the weather. The Bills starting quarterback did have one interception as Reggie Corner made a nice play in the end zone on a pass intended for Lee Evans.
But Edwards rebounded nicely later in practice as he hooked up with Evans for a 40-50 yard play as Evans reached around Terrence McGee to make the catch. It was easily the reception of the night.
Injury Update
Not practicing again Tuesday were Copeland Bryan (hamstring), Josh Reed (back) and Donte Whitner (ankle). Buffalo's head coach said Reed will be re-examined by team doctors.
"They're getting better," said Jauron of Reed and Whitner. "I know that our doctor will be back (Wednesday) to re-check Josh. (Head athletic trainer) Bud (Carpenter) said that Donte is feeling a lot better every day and again it's one of those things where he doesn't feel that it's going to be long term, but we're going to be careful with them both."
Jauron would not say if Whitner's MRI ruled out anything serious.
The wet field compromised the comebacks of Will James and James Hardy. James and Hardy are trying to return from groin and hamstring ailments respectively and both participated in individual position drills. However, when the field got wet the training staff was not going to take the chance of having Hardy or James slip and re-injure themselves.
Getting reps
Third-round pick Chris Ellis continues to get second team reps at right defensive end with Copeland Bryan sidelined.
Duke Preston got some first team center reps as it appears as though he's taking some of the load off of veteran Melvin Fowler.
Spencer Johnson got some reps at defensive end in the nickel package.
Kyle Williams was lined up with Marcus Stroud again with the first unit. John McCargo and Johnson were with the second group.
Reggie Corner continues to run with the first nickel package with Will James out, while Leodis McKelvin got some reps in second team nickel.
Bryan Scott and John Wendling continue to get reps with the first and second team defensive units with Whitner sitting out.
Highlights
Edwards did a nice job of beating the blitz as the defense began to install more pressure packages Tuesday night on one particular play over the middle when he hit Evans for an eight-yard gain.
Fred Jackson had a five-yard touchdown run during red zone work as the offensive line provided a nice alley for him.
Ashton Youboty made a nice over the shoulder interception on a deep pass down the sideline from J.P. Losman. Youboty also had a pass breakup late in practice.
Reggie Corner made his third interception of camp off Edwards on the aforementioned attempt to Evans in the end zone. He also had a pass breakup in the red zone.
George Wilson made his second INT in camp in the end zone on a pass from Losman on the far sideline.
Jason Jones pulled in a nice looking pass from Gibran Hamdan for a first down gain.
Looking good
Fourth-round pick Reggie Corner has been the most impressive performer of the draft class to date. He probably gets more reps than most playing both cornerback and in the nickel package, but he's around the ball a lot and is leading the team in interceptions with three.
Lee Evans has been too tough to cover one-on-one, and has even made plays when there has been good coverage by the defense.
Langston Walker has been very efficient on the left side at tackle. It's still not live football, but he's worked against Aaron Schobel the past two days and has held up well.
George Wilson has flashed through the course of training camp and has been around the ball a good amount. He has a pair of interceptions.
Fred Jackson has looked good in the passing game whether he's been catching out of the backfield or lined up wide. His slashing style is fun to watch.
