2009 Bills Training Camp: Day Five Open Thread

The rain is falling in Pittsford, New York, but the Buffalo Bills will still be taking the field for today's scheduled practice.  Rookie offensive guard Eric Wood - who reportedly agreed to terms on a contract Tuesday night - will not be in attendance, as Wood's agent is reviewing the contract's language.  Bills COO/GM Russ Brandon confirmed to ESPN.com's Tim Graham that a tentative deal has, however, been negotiated; Brandon expects Wood in camp on Thursday.  Meanwhile, the word "close" is still being used to describe a potential signing of second-round FS Jairus Byrd.

Our de facto camp reporter, MattRichWarren, is currently stuffed in traffic, but will be reporting to this afternoon's practice.  David Selby, photographer extraordinaire, will be on hand as well, at least initially.  We'll keep you updated.

1:20 PM: Rain has stopped at Growney.  Field is still slick.  Seven players are sitting this one out - TE Shawn Nelson, WR Steve Johnson, WR P.K. Sam, DT Marcus Stroud, DT John McCargo, DE Copeland Bryan and S Dustin Fox.  (Scratch that.  Stroud is practicing.  Six players are sidelined.)

1:43 PM: Starting off with run work.  Chris Kelsay made a nice stop, beating Brad Butler on the play.  (Here come the groans.)  Andy Levitre was the first to rotate through at left guard.  Marcus Buggs made a big hit on Xavier Omon running with the third-team defense at MLB.

1:45 PM: Add in two more non-participants: DT Ventrell Jenkins and DT Marcus Smith.  Stroud/Williams/Johnson/Lindquist at DT today, and that's it.

1:47 PM: Drayton Florence has improved steadily throughout camp, and is impressing in one-on-one drills.  WR Terrell Owens caught a deep pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick.  Meanwhile, run work continues; first-unit line is struggling to get much going against Bills' run defense.

1:52 PM: It's starting to rain again a bit, steadily worsening.  Punt drills aren't going too smoothly; both Leodis McKelvin, Bruce Hall and Dominic Rhodes have muffed punts.  Brian Moorman, however, looks good.  Bobby April's units are working on field goal blocking by having undrafted rookie kicker Danny Urrego kick soccer balls.

2:04 PM: A few lineup notes to mention.  Florence is once again running as the first-team nickel back.  The Bills are using a three-safety look defensively, with Ko Simpson joining Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott on the field.  (Who wants to guess that this is Byrd's package?) Offensively, Fred Jackson continues to line up in the slot as a receiver.

One other note: mercifully, Ryan Fitzpatrick is looking better today.  So is Gibran Hamdan, for that matter.

2:08 PM: Buffalo's starting cornerbacks are looking good (along with the secondary in general).  Terrence McGee had a nice pass break-up on a pass intended for Owens.  On the next play, Leodis McKelvin made an acrobatic interception falling to the ground as he defended a deep throw intended for Lee Evans.  McGee then knocked a sure catch out of Owens' grasp.

2:12 PM: A few updates spruced in above, in regards to the backups (playing well), more plays from the DBs.  Moving to full-squad looks now.

2:17 PM: Kirk Chambers is now taking first-team reps at left guard, but Andy Levitre has handled Kyle Williams on consecutive plays - one run and one pass.  Ryan Fitzpatrick just threw an interception to an undisclosed defender.  The defense is doing a lot of blitzing, particularly right up the middle.  And yes - we've seen another screen pass.  Everything is still no-huddle.

2:27 PM: Had a bit of a scary moment in which Terrell Owens and Donte Whitner fell to the turf hard during a jump ball.  Both are OK, but Whitner was slow to get up.  Both are still practicing.  We're also hearing more encouraging news on the backup quarterbacks - Hamdan in particular - and the offensive line is holding up well in pass protection as well.

2:32 PM: Not camp-related, but we'll put it here anyways.  Jason La Canfora reports that Eric Wood has signed his rookie contract.  It's a five-year deal worth a reported maximum of $13 million.

2:42 PM: A couple of second-unit defenders are turning in nice performances.  Chris Ellis continues to put in good work at both left and right end.  Rookie linebacker Nic Harris just put a good lick on Marshawn Lynch.  Meanwhile, Drayton Florence is stealing some of Leodis McKelvin's first-team reps opposite Terrence McGee, with Reggie Corner in the slot.  Edwards and Evans are picking on poor Reggie with success.

It appears the lineup tinkering continues, as Demetrius Bell is also taking a few snaps with the first-team offensive line at left tackle.  The line's pass blocking has been quite good today.

2:51 PM: We're into the latter stages of practice.  Matt's headed out early.  Recap coming later on this afternoon.