2009 Bills Training Camp: Day 11 Open Thread

Here's a fun fact for you: the Buffalo Bills are three public practices away from being completely "prepared" for their first pre-season game of the 2009 season.  Get excited, folks.

MattRichWarren is at camp.  The Bills are coming off of a very nice practice session last night.  You know where to go for updates from today's practice - right on in past the jump.

1:18 PM: Brad Butler is out once again.  Copeland Bryan and Marcus Smith are also out, as are the PUP guys (James Hardy, Jairus Byrd).  Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com confirms that Steve Johnson is back practicing.  Matt's got a bad seat, so be prepared for lower quality updates than usual.  We do what we can...

1:25 PM: Buffalo's defensive tackles are currently working with line coach Bob Sanders on getting under blocks and attaining proper pad level.  Matt's view must really suck, though; he's mentioned it twice now.

1:33 PM: Demetrius Bell once again "started" for Butler at right tackle, though Kirk Chambers is seeing reps there as well.  Langston Walker and Alvin Bowen got into a teeny little skirmish, as Walker was blocking the second-year linebacker past the whistle.

1:37 PM: Bell is back in at right tackle working on hand placement in the run game.  The offense is continuing its emphasis on the play-action pass today.

1:45 PM: It's gonna be a light day, folks - the pads just came off.  Sean Kugler and Eric Wood are spending some quality one-on-one time together at the moment.  The offense is working on break and recover; the defense is working on leverage and pad level.

1:51 PM: We have a Brad Butler sighting.  He's on the field in a hat and shorts; he's moving well, but obviously not practicing.  Ditto for James Hardy.

1:56 PM: Matt is currently trying to position himself to get a closer look at Donte Whitner.  In the meantime, here's a nugget for you: Chris Ellis just made Shawn Nelson look foolish in a pass rushing drill.  Interpret that how you will.

2:03 PM: Trent Edwards just hit Terrell Owens in stride... and Owens promptly dropped the ball.  Let's hope we don't see a lot of that this season.  Shawn Nelson is once again getting a lot of work in the red zone.  Buffalo's first-team defense isn't seeing a lot of reps today.

2:07 PM: Leodis McKelvin remains out of team work (though he is once again doing positional drills), and it's Drayton Florence taking first-team reps in his stead today.  Y'all asked for a Donte Whitner update; he is definitely playing free safety, as he's routinely lined up in deep center field.  Still nothing in the way of big plays.

2:11 PM: Add the screen pass to the list of things the Bills continue to work on on a daily basis, even if only for a few moments here and there.  There's a lot more play-action work going on these days.

2:17 PM: Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay were just driven yards away from the line of scrimmage by Langston Walker and Demetrius Bell (respectively) in pass protection.  Kirk Chambers is getting most of his work at second-team left guard behind Andy Levitre.  Meanwhile, John McCargo's run defense continues to look good, as he knifed into the backfield for a tackle-for-loss.

2:30 PM: Steve Johnson is practicing, but he's not doing much in the way of strenuous activities.  Not surprising there; rib injuries are tough to deal with.

2:39 PM: It's been a rather lackadaisical afternoon in terms of players getting rest.  The team has moved to the walk-through portion of practice, even though it's supposed to last roughly another half-hour.  Looks like another early quit.  Most of the first and second team defenders have gotten a light workload today, and are currently watching practice.

2:48 PM: Indeed, the Bills are ending early.  Practice is now over.  Light day today; not a lot in the way of major talking points.  Short recap coming later.