Monday Morning Bills Notes

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 8:30 AM EDT in News

Edwards impressing early in Bills camp (Photo Source)

Four practices and one walk-through session are in the books, and for the first time in what can technically be referred to as the 2008 season, the Buffalo Bills are strapping on the pads and hitting each other in a practice setting. The Bills have one practice today from 11 AM to 1:05 PM; please use this as an open thread for any developments you wish to discuss from today's practice.

Here's what else has been making headlines over a quiet weekend in Pittsford...

Why No Pads?
Bills head coach Dick Jauron has taken a little heat from the fan base in his two-plus seasons on the job for his "easy" training camp regimen. The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle explains why such a tactic is a smart move.

McKelvin Working Hard to Catch Up
He missed the team's first four practices as an unsigned rookie, so CB Leodis McKelvin is working overtime to catch back up to his teammates - and loving every minute of it. You have to love hearing that type of dedication from a rookie.

Edwards' Weight
The Buffalo News takes another look at Trent Edwards' off-season weight gain. The young signal-caller seems very confident that his additional muscle will help keep him healthy for an entire season; let's hope that that confidence manifests itself as clairvoyance.

Royal Not a Lock for Starting TE
Heading back to the Democrat and Chronicle, we hear more about Buffalo's brewing situation at tight end. Veteran Robert Royal, the team's starter for the past two seasons, does not appear to have the inside track at reclaiming that role. That hasn't stopped Royal from attempting to earn the job by working out harder than ever.

Hardy Making Plays Early
None of Buffalo's rookies have more pressure on their shoulders than WR James Hardy does. The Buffalo News has been impressed with Hardy's work early in camp, reporting that he is rarely dropping passes and is making plays in traffic. That's exactly what we need out of Hardy; it'll be interesting to see if Hardy can sustain that production with pads on and in the pre-season.

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No pads

Jauron should get grief for this. The Bills are also completely done with two a days, which is crazy considering they haven’t even been hitting yet.

From SI.com

• This just in: It’s July 27, and the Bills are officially done with a two-a-day practices in training camp. That’s got to be the earliest cessation of that training-camp staple in NFL history. Buffalo head coach Dick Jauron only scheduled two days of two-a-days, and they fell on Friday and Saturday, the Bills’ first two days of camp.
From here on out, Buffalo will practice just once daily in a full-scale manner, although the Bills will fairly often conduct a second, walk-through practice some of those days. In today’s NFL, with its long offseason workout programs in place, making sure you’re healthy and not ruining your team’s chances in training camp has become a coach’s more important goal.

Hopefully, this doesn’t cause us to be slow out of the gates, AGAIN….

by Kurupt on Jul 28, 2008 9:11 AM EDT 0 recs

You don’t think we were slow out of the gates because… our teams weren’t very good?

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 9:28 AM EDT up 0 recs

Also, I only recall one slow start – last year. I wouldn’t call 2006 a slow start. That was Jauron’s first year – and with a brand new system on both sides of the ball and brand new personnel, the team started off with a 2-point loss in New England and a win in Miami to start 1-1. Yes, there was a lull after that. But I thought they started that season off pretty well.

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 9:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

We are 3-9 in games before the bye with Jauron as coach. Thats pretty slow, and much worse then the teams performance in general.

by Thronsen on Jul 28, 2008 2:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

no pads

I don’t think the linked article in The RD&C did anything to disprove the idea that Jauron’s soft training camps don’t properly prepare the team for the season. The article read like a puff piece regarding how fun it is for the players to work for Jauron. The Bills used this soft approach for camp in 2007 and the team was dropping like flies in terms of injuries in August and September, so the fear of losing players doesn’t subside by removing the hitting from training camp. On the football side of it, the offense has looked disoriented both Septembers under Jauron, the defense gave up yardadge in massive chunks in both Septembers, and the team has started out poorly in terms of their record both seasons. One of manyn things that makes Jauron so frustrating is that his conservative, fearful, passive approach to running a team never evolves after previous failures; he never learns from earlier mistakes. There’s truly a reason that 6 of his 7 seasons as a head coach have pretty much been the same thing- bad offense, lousy QB play, a defense that can’t get off the field, slow start, fade down the stretch. The reason this keeps repeating itself is that Jauron steers his team the same way each year and so why shouldn’t the results end up the same? This team needs to be ready to play in September, not feeling its way through the first month before gaining some traction by mid October. What worries me is that I feel like the Bills are ready to contend (as long as their blind gamble on Edwards pays off; will their cowardly coach hold them back?

Never forget 56-10. Revenge.

by SuperFan82 on Jul 28, 2008 9:12 AM EDT 0 recs

Oh, you two… you never disappoint me. :)

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

Come on, Brian Galliford, seriously...

...Do you honestly believe this is the right approach? I know I might sound biased in disagreeing with Jauron because I’ve been frank in admitting that I believe his failures in Chicago are repeating in Buffalo, but do you honestly believe his teams were ready to play the last few seasons (and yes, 2-5 and 14 points a game is a slow start)? If it’s all about personnel, why even pay a head coach? I know *Belichoke, Coughlin, and Reid are examples off the top of my head of current coaches who utilize training camp in a different way than Jauron does (and I’m not talking about the cliche of two a days with pads all summer long, Geronimo- remember, the evidence points to Jauron’s not knowing what he’s doing. That evidence is is .426 winning percentage as a head coach. It’s a leap of faith to believe he DOES know what he’s doing, which you’re entitled to and I’d like to share someday, but the facts back my suspicion of ineptitude unfortunately so your preaching is misplaced). Don’t those coaches’ track records lend themselves to more credibility than Jauron’s? The team has looked soft early in the season and it’s reasonable to link this to the soft training camps. I’m not sure I understand your complete insistence that Jauron is correct with this approach, Brian Galliford.

Never forget 56-10. Revenge.

by SuperFan82 on Jul 28, 2008 9:58 AM EDT up 0 recs

Rebut

It would appear that you are attempting to turn this into a referendum on Jauron rather than your original point of training camp style being responsible for early season success. I would argue that since the sad passing of Korey Stringer in 2001, virtually every single team in the NFL has dramatically reshaped its training camp philosophy to closely mirror what Jauron was doing even prior to that.

Ever read the book or see the movie “The Junction Boys’? About Bear Bryant’s first year at Texas A&M. He nearly killed most of his guys pre-season through constant contact.

Care to guess how may games they won that year?

Geronimo

by Geronimo on Jul 28, 2008 10:10 AM EDT up 0 recs

No reforandum from me

It’s great that you have a lot of faith in the head coach of your favorite team. If Jauron turns this team into a winner, I’ll be the first person to say that he knew what he was doing all along. There are some things to like about him. He’s a stand up guy in terms of taking responsibility, he’s not embarrassing with boorish behavior like the Parcells/Belichoke branch of the coaching tree, and he was admirable in keeping the team together in the wake of Kevin Everett’s injury last year. That said, his track record doesn’t lend itself to the sense of infallibility that you seem to have instilled in the guy. Asking questions about stubbornly repeating an approach that has netted poor results is a reasonable thing to do. You don’t need to flip out everytime Jauron’s methods are questioned in a fan blog (Jauron’s job is football, mine isn’t. The line of reality is not blurry to me regardless of my lack of being “informed” as you so often put it). 14-18 is the point where some tough questions need to be asked about the leadership of a team. I hope Jauron succeeds in 2008 and is the coach for a long time because of sustained success, but in this case, all signs point to his repeating a mistake and that’s very frustrating. I’m not broadening the article’s focus into a reforandum on Jauron by wondering aloud if Jauron’s approach makes sense; you’re the one on the tangent with Tom Berenger movies and the tragic death of a young man in 2001. Let’s hope Jauron does know what he’s doing. It may have occurred to me once or twice, but more often than not these last two seasons, it’s occurred to me that he doesn’t. That has to change in 2008.

Never forget 56-10. Revenge.

by SuperFan82 on Jul 28, 2008 10:36 AM EDT up 0 recs

Ultimately...

All that coaches get measured on is W’s and L’s and if Jauron wins here-he will likely be here for a long time, and if not, he won’t be. Pretty simple. My only point was an is that in my own humble opinion, his approach to Training Camp is not “a mistake.” And judging from the way that the great majority of the rest of the NFL conducts their pre-season business-they don’t think so either. No more No less.

Geronimo

by Geronimo on Jul 28, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

I didn’t insist that Jauron was correct, I just don’t think he can come close to shouldering all of the blame. I like his approach; you don’t. I want this team to start quickly. I think it can be done with this training camp approach; you don’t.

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 10:25 AM EDT up 0 recs

Oh… and Brian Galliford is actually my real name, so you can just call me Brian. Or Galliford. Or whatever. :)

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 10:27 AM EDT up 0 recs

your full name is a sign of respect

I’ve read enough of your articles since last October or so, that “Brian Galliford” gets full name status like “Peter Gammons” or “Larry Felser”...you just don’t want to hear me call you simply by your last name like I do with Jerry Sullivan.

Never forget 56-10. Revenge.

by SuperFan82 on Jul 28, 2008 10:41 AM EDT up 0 recs

What about B-rod, or BG, or G-dog? Can we use any of those?

by krytime on Jul 28, 2008 12:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

B-rod? I suppose that would work if my middle name was “Rodney” or “Rodrique”. It’s not.

I was called “G-dawg” for about a month in fifth grade, so feel free to use that if you’re feeling age 10-ish today. :)

by Brian Galliford on Jul 28, 2008 12:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, I reached on that one.....

by krytime on Jul 28, 2008 12:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

Good grief

There is not a single point made by Super Fan that I agree on, but will leave my response as simply as this. First—and I have been to St. John’s for perhaps a total of 10 days since DJ was coach. There has never been a day (except a Sunday) where the team did NOT practice twice a day. Once they get into a routine, the first practice is always is full pads and the second about an hour 1/4 or so in half speed “situational-walk throughs.”

I defy Korupt or Superfan to name more than three-four teams (and that would be a lot!) who are out there twice a day in full pads. Ironically, when DJ first came to Chicago he was heavily critiqued by the medai for this exact same approach—which back then was by far the exception and not the norm. Years, later it is de rigeur throughout the league.

Though it would not occur to you guys to think so, maybe the guy knows what he is doing.

I will be at St. Johns from Wed-Sunday and will make a full report later.

Geronimo

by Geronimo on Jul 28, 2008 9:42 AM EDT up 0 recs

two a days

yeah a lot of teams only run a handful of them, but after just 2 days of them, it seems a little ridiculous to me. we have come into the past few seasons unprepared, IMO, and unready to play at the physicality we need.

I hope he knows what he’s doing, and that I don’t, but I don’t want to see another soft team that can’t finish off games in the 4th Q this year. I happen to think that’s a result of a softer preseason and training camp.

by Kurupt on Jul 28, 2008 11:18 AM EDT up 0 recs

TE Royal

I can see why Royal would get less reps and still be in the starting rotation and I can also see how he could be cut.
We know what we have in Royal no doubt, and while a vet leader on the team, he is still not a threat in the passing game. Sure he catches balls, but he is certainly no threat.
The thing is though, i am not comfortable yet with Schouman as the starter, because of his lack of size. He is about 20 lbs less than guys like Dallas Clark or Chris Cooley who i think are on the smaller side of TEs and i am not sure Schouman would be a capable blocker and it would be a bad sign to have him come in on passing downs and thus dictate to the defense what we are doing.
However, if he proves to be a special talent this year I have no problems with him as the starter, and with our improved line and a real FB, maybe having a blocking TE in there isn’t as much of a need.

Protect ya neck!

by killascript on Jul 28, 2008 10:01 AM EDT 0 recs

Twenty pounds?

What are you going by, the Bills site (223)? That was his weight in college, I think… NFL.com has him listed at 247, which is very close to Clark or Cooley. For that matter, he’s close to the same size as Owen Daniels (6-3, 246) or Desmond Clark (6-3, 249), and not that far off from Kellen Winslow (6-4, 250), who all had 500+ receiving yards last year.

by Krenn on Jul 28, 2008 11:07 AM EDT up 0 recs

off topic a bit

but Schouman has the funniest team photo ever

by Kurupt on Jul 28, 2008 11:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

I'm looking for the "senior quote" underneath.

by jj24 on Jul 28, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

well...

I don’t weigh him myself first of all, and on this site there was much discussion about his weight and oit being low.
i checked your link and it does say 247, so that is good. I don’t have all the info.
Also, he looks small out there in the training camp videos, so that was part of it. But hey, if he is going to be the guy, let it happen because i want to see some playmakers out there

Protect ya neck!

by killascript on Jul 28, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

Schouman

He was recruited as a linebacker and was listed at 223 all four years at Boise St.

He was one of the biggest surprise weigh-ins at the combine at 247. That is where NFL.com gets that figure from.

The Bills listed him at 233 last year and they are listing him at 223 right now.

His actual, current weight is a mystery to all of us.

by kaisertown on Jul 29, 2008 5:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm guessing

and yes, just guessing, that he is closer to 247 than 223. 223 is WR like and Schouman looks a bit thicker than that. If he’s at 240+, I think he’d be able to hold up fine along the line….

by Kurupt on Jul 30, 2008 9:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

Eric Johnson released by New Orleans

Maybe he is worth a look. He was a pretty good receiver before his injury and could have a bounce-back type season this year. If Royal and/or Shouman aren’t the answer at TE, then maybe this guy would help.

by JTM1023 on Jul 28, 2008 1:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

Situationally

Johnson never could stay on the field for a full season in SF, and thats why he ended up in New Orleans. He would be a good pickup if one of our guys go down, but the man has never played more than 12 games in a season in the pros, ever.

He is a very good ball catching tight end though, so if he would be willing to take a low contract for a season to prove he is healthy, I would like to see if he could push the other guys to play better, but his injury history does scare me off somewhat.

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on Jul 28, 2008 2:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Going easy on them?!?!?!?

There were 17 players out on IR last year, so what exactly is DJ saving it for? “Go easy during camp so when you get injured in week 3, you will have enough energy to enjoy your vacation for the rest of the season.” Maybe this approach is what made the team “soft and fragile” last year. There has to be something in between babying them and working them into the ground. Football is a tough sport as everyone knows, and you do have to be prepared physically to last the entire seaon. Broken bones are not avoidable, but muscle strains and sprains can be lessened by the muscles in those areas being stronger.

by JTM1023 on Jul 28, 2008 10:07 AM EDT 0 recs

Training Camps

were originally designed to whip players back into shape before the regular season began (and they only played preseason, 12 regular season games, and playoffs back then). Most players didn’t worry about what they did in the offseason as far as diet and exercise.

Nowadays, the offseason involves much more scrutiny regarding diet and exercise. Players know if they want to keep their jobs, they have to keep themselves in at least close to top form all year round. Competition is too fierce for them not to (ask Mike Williams if you doubt me).

In this era, football players need to get themselves in gear mentally and teamwork-wise more than they need the extra contact. You don’t want your best players getting injured in training camp because of freak happenstances that could have been avoided.
Even Marv Levy was known for running a “Club Med”, softer approach during his training camps, and his teams generally came roaring out of the gate in September. There’s something to be said for this approach if it’s done right.

Get the Bills back to the big game!

by Blitz on Jul 28, 2008 11:00 AM EDT 0 recs

Perfect examples of running hard camps leading to injuries

Anyone been paying attention to the saga of injuries coming out of the Redskins TC? I mean, they lost their #1 RDE, then their #1 DE backup, and have now lost I believe one of their DLineman for a month due to injuries during full pad practices.

The Ravens under Harbaugh like the Skins under Zorn are running a much “harder” camp, and now they have lost Ngata, who is HUGE part of their D in keeping lineman off of Ray “Cry me a River” Lewis is down for a month with an MCL Sprain, and Gaither the guy who is replacing Ogden has a sprained ankle, which is just as bad as if he had decided to skip camp like Peters is doing with us.

I cannot gainsay a coach going easy on his team in TC. I would rather be a little slow and out of it the 1st 2 games of a season if it means my team will be relatively healthy in Dec. Last year was a fluke in that MANY of the injuries were not soft tissue injuries which having greater mass will defend against.

By the way, how many of you remeber the old Lions teams under Mora? He ran the EASIEST camps when Barry Sanders was there and every season they started slow, but since all his guys were NOT beat up before the season, they would go on what my buddies and I called the Thanksgiving swing where they would have the big Turkey day win, and then run out the schedule on fire because they were rested and mostly healthy while everyone else was burned out. This happened in the mid-90s when almost no other team was doing it and it worked. Now, everyone is doing it, and thus the gain from it is now minimized, just like the Cover-2 has allowed teams with poorer personnal to hang with teams who like the chuck the ball downfield.

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on Jul 28, 2008 2:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

Do you mean Wayne Fontes?

If so, I have to say I’d prefer my team find more successful role models than Wayne freaking Fontes- geez, weren’t Bruce Coslet and Dom Capers available? We can do better. This team hasn’t been through the wars that the “Club Marv” Bills had gone through so I don’t think looking back at those tems as inspiration necessarily fits. Injuries can and will happen regardless of the type of camp you run, but slow starts have crippled this team this entire decade. If running a “tougher” camp hasn’t been tried since Gregg Williams’ first year or so, I sure think it’s worth a shot at this point. It’s not like the saved energy has done the Bills any favors in December under Jauron.

Never forget 56-10. Revenge.

by SuperFan82 on Jul 28, 2008 2:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

If I'm not mistaken

Weren’t the camps run by Marv Levy known as “Club Marv”? Easy camps didn’t seem to hinder those teams. Also I have a hard time calling the Broken arm Poz suffered, the broken ankle Ko suffered, or the neck injury Everett suffered, caused by poor conditioning. The lack of two-a-days doesn’t bother me at all.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Jul 28, 2008 12:08 PM EDT 0 recs

I believe you are correct, sireric

And I vividly remember the fast starts those teams generally got off to. I’m pretty sure it was 3-1 there for a few years, 2-2 at the worst one or two times.

Those teams would either go 1-3 or winless in the preseason and then just light it up in September. Some great memories there.

How bad do we need to beat these players up in the preseason to merely show how macho they are? How pointless. As I wrote earlier, the reason for training camp originally was physical conditioning. Now that most players keep themselves in shape pretty much year round, the training regimen can be adjusted to emphasize working together as a unit, not beating the crap out of each other before the regular season even gets here.

Get the Bills back to the big game!

by Blitz on Jul 28, 2008 4:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

More on DJs style....

And I could be wrong on this… But from what I see anyway, it makes sense… AM full pad/contact…. Classroom.. View film, what was right/wrong in practice that morning… PM… Walkthrough to correct mistakes… Next morning, apply what you learned during walk through…
I think others are right… Ya don’t need the constant grind anymore to whip players in to shape… With OTAs and off season conditioning programs now, it’s not needed… Players are already in top shape, and need to get the mental aspect of the game down…. Course there are some “young” players (see Felton, Robert) way outa shape for their first camp… If he sticks, I’ll bet he looks a lot different next year!!!! LOL!!!!

by Cinga on Jul 28, 2008 12:11 PM EDT 0 recs

No penalties for Lynch

http://buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?blogger_id=1

Goodell says no disciplinary action for Lynch…something which I did foresee, but regardless is great news

Protect ya neck!

by killascript on Jul 28, 2008 12:24 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: No penalties for Lynch

This should be a separate fan post. And for the record, I was wrong on this. I thought for sure he’d get “something.”

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pat the crow with butter, and season with salt, pepper, and a touch of garlic. Cover, bake for 30 minutes. Serve with some corn on the cob, and a baked potatoe.

by krytime on Jul 28, 2008 12:42 PM EDT 0 recs