2009 Bills Training Camp: Day 9 Open Thread

The Buffalo Bills have been at St. John Fisher College for ten days already.  Their ninth day of practice is today, when they take the field in just a few moments after getting Sunday off.

Our de facto camp reporter, MattRichWarren, will be taking in this afternoon's practice live from Growney Stadium.  He'll be tweeting updates, which will appear here in this thread after the jump.  Head on in, get your refresh on, and chat away during our live training camp coverage.  We'll recap the day's events in a post later on this afternoon.

2:25 PM: VIP section today, folks.  Essentially on the field.

2:27 PM: An incomplete list of non-participants includes Steve Johnson, Leodis McKelvin, Jairus Byrd, Marcus Smith, and Copeland Bryan.  Kirk Chambers and Shawn Nelson are practicing.  Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com confirms that John McCargo and Dustin Fox have returned to the practice field today as well.

2:43 PM: James Hardy and Jairus Byrd are working on the side.  Hardy says his knee feels much better.  Byrd is doing backpedal drills and looks good.

2:44 PM: Sean Kugler is currently working on getting his centers to the second level in run blocking.  Chambers is getting a full practice load (as is Nelson, for those who asked).

2:48 PM: Run game is looking good today.  Marshawn Lynch just busted off a nice gainer, and Roscoe Parrish had a big chunk of yardage on a reverse.  Meanwhile, Nelson is working on pass protection drills as a first-team blocker.

2:49 PM: Chris Ellis just cleanly beat Demetrius Bell on a pass rush to flush Ryan Fitzpatrick from the pocket.  Fitzpatrick had a perfect pass on his first rep of the day.  Also of note - with McKelvin sitting, Reggie Corner is taking first-team reps on the outside, while Drayton Florence remains the nickel corner.  This is a sure sign that Corner is ahead of Ashton Youboty on the depth chart for now.

2:52 PM: Both rookie guards, Andy Levitre and Eric Wood, are taking every first-team rep at left and right guard, respectively.

2:53 PM: RT Brad Butler just left the field of play holding his back.  We'll monitor.  Demetrius Bell Check that.  Chambers replaces him at right tackle.  Butler has gingerly made his way to the locker room.

2:56 PM: Two more developments: the Bills are currently working on both Wildcat formations (Parrish-led and Fred Jackson-led), and the VIP tent at Bills camp serves beer.

3:17 PM: Shawn Nelson just made Jon Corto look foolish in coverage, running right by the reserve linebacker for a long touchdown reception from Ryan Fitzpatrick.  Lee Evans and C.J. Hawthorne have made nice grabs on deep post patterns as well.  Shaine Smith continues to look good.

3:22 PM: Nelson and Derek Schouman are seeing most of the first-team reps in passing situations; Nelson looks quite good.  Derek Fine is being worked in as well.  Good news on the Ryan Fitzpatrick front as well - he's having a great day.  His offense is clicking and he's thrown a few touchdowns, with Nelson, Schouman and Justin Jenkins the beneficiaries.  Lee Evans just made a very acrobatic catch on a Trent Edwards pass as well.

3:24 PM: Ask and ye shall receive - Nic Harris is currently working on the strong-side with the second unit linebackers.

3:33 PM: The run defense is looking good again, with Paul Posluszny in particular looking excellent clogging up running lanes.

3:51 PM: The Bills are now working on running against a 3-4 look right now.  Marcus Stroud, Spencer Johnson and Kyle Williams are on the line.  Geoff Hangartner schooled Johnson on the play; our new center is looking pretty good.  In fact, the trio of Hangartner, Levitre and Wood has been fairly excellent today.  Hangartner did struggle with a Kyle Williams bull rush in pass protection, but held his ground well enough to allow Edwards to get the throw off.

3:58 PM: Another practice, another impressive play from Ellis Lankster, as he picks off a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass.  John McCargo has looked solid as he works back into the fold; he just batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.  Offense is currently working in a two-minute drill.

4:05 PM: This was an interesting practice, to say the least.  The team has moved on to the walk-through portion of their practice; one more beer, then we're gone.  Recap later.