LB Crowell returns to practice (Photo Source)

After nine days of practices, the Buffalo Bills had Sunday off and returned to the practice field yesterday afternoon for their eleventh day of training camp.  While OT Jason Peters continued his holdout, the Bills did get some good news in the form of veteran LB Angelo Crowell returning to the field of play.  Crowell missed the majority of last week's practices with a left knee injury.

Joining Crowell on the field were newly signed LB Donnie Spragan as well as UDFA rookie WR C.J. Hawthorne, a Hawaii product that the Bills added yesterday.  Hawthorne takes the roster spot of one Jason Peters, and was signed to reduce the number of reps that Buffalo's depleted receiving corps was taking.

Strong safety Donte Whitner missed practice with an ankle injury that required an MRI, but the injury is not considered serious.  WR Josh Reed was also held out of practice Monday as the team looked to reduce his work load and rest his surgically repaired lower back; he's not expected to miss much action either.  DE Copeland Bryan (hamstring) and CB Will James (groin) also missed practice Monday.  WR James Hardy (hamstring) participated on a limited basis in individual drills.

Parrish Stepping Up in Reed's Absence
Not surprisingly, Roscoe Parrish - the other veteran wideout on the team not named Lee Evans - saw an increased workload with Reed on the sidelines.  Buffalo's diminutive return star was making some plays in the receiving game, always a nice thing to hear; he was also, however, showing that he can be physical despite his small frame:

After taking a hard hit from Jabari Greer on a short out route to the sideline that left him on the ground for a minute, Parrish came back with some of his own hitting as he cracked Ashton Youboty on a run play.

Donte Whitner shouted from the sidelines, "I see that Roscoe. You want to hit like that?"

To which Parrish responded, "I'll hit like that all day!"

Parrish isn't the only one with the bug; thing seem to have become a bit more physical as the team gears up for its first pre-season game of the year, this coming Saturday in Washington.  Justin Jenkins also received some first-team reps at wideout in Reed's absence.

Cornerback Competition Update
With Will James sidelined with his groin injury, we've gotten a pretty good look at exactly how Buffalo's depth chart currently shakes out at cornerback.  James - currently the first team nickel back on the depth chart - has been replaced at that position by rookie fourth-round pick Reggie Corner (with Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer holding down the starting slots, as usual).  Ashton Youboty and Leodis McKelvin have manned the outside slots for the second unit.  McKelvin has been taking reps at the nickel spot for both units as well.

Clearly, the Bills are mixing and matching their personnel inside for now to see which players fit best at which positions.  What may be most surprising, however, is the fact that Reggie Corner's role seems to be solidified, while McKelvin's has not.  It seems, for now, that the Bills are working on ways to get their first-round pick onto the field, because at this point, it seems pretty obvious that he won't start right away.

Who's Making Plays
Crowell looked good in his return to the lineup, making several plays in the passing game.  Parrish routinely beat defenders running routes, and has proven to be quite as difficult to cover as Lee Evans has in man coverage.  CB Jabari Greer blocked a field goal yesterday.  Buffalo Rumblings' second-favorite linebacker, Jon Banks, tipped a pass that was intercepted by safety Jon Corto.

You have to love hearing this, as well.  Looking forward to big things from #23 this year.

Marshawn Lynch ran under a reception deep down the far sideline for a big gain.

The Bills will hit the practice field for another night practice today, which runs from 7PM until just after 9.  We'll discuss the developments from tonight's practice tomorrow morning.

Lynch, Jackson will be used plenty in 2008 (Photo Source)

When he was hired as the new offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills this past January, Turk Schonert promised to get Buffalo's two running backs, particularly Marshawn Lynch, more involved in the team's offensive attack.

If that turns out to be true, Lynch and his running mate, Fred Jackson, are in for very busy 2008 seasons.

Jackson made a name for himself in '07 while filling in for an injured Lynch, who missed three games, and he remained a part of Buffalo's offense even after Lynch returned to the lineup.  During the four-game stretch in which the duo played significant amounts of time together, they were, in a word, invaluable to Buffalo's (mediocre) offensive attack.

Take their combined stat lines from those four games, for instance:

Lynch, Weeks 14-17: 84 carries, 364 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 64 yards
Jackson, Weeks 14-17: 33 carries, 184 yards; 10 catches, 66 yards

Those numbers weren't accrued against cupcake defenses, either.  Sure, Miami was involved, but Cleveland, the Giants and Philadelphia were all very solid teams.  These two players combined for 130 touches between them in those four games (an average of 32.5 per game combined), and now, with the hiring of Schonert, we're expecting more from this duo.  Between the two, assuming they're both healthy for the entire '08 season, the duo could combine for 35-40 touches per game.  That's a very, very high total.

What's most important to realize about this duo is that with Jackson playing the role of complement, Lynch was far more effective, averaging 4.3 yards per carry and a whopping 21 yards per reception (a number that certainly would have dwindled had he been more involved as a receiver).  During the 9 games Lynch played without a steady complement, he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry and 8 yards per reception.

Let's extrapolate those four-game numbers for a healthy 16-game season for each player.  Clearly there will be some fluctuations based on the new offensive system, but even without factoring that into the equation, some of these numbers are staggering:

Lynch Extrapolated: 336 carries, 1456 yards
Jackson Extrapolated: 132 carries, 40 receptions

Is it really fathomable that these two players could touch the ball that many times this season?  In short, yes.  Considering the dearth of talent the Bills have at the tight end position, Buffalo's running backs are expected to pick up some of the slack in the short-area passing game.  It seems far-fetched, but looking at last year's small sample, this duo should surpass 500 combined touches quite easily.

When you have two good players at one position, there can sometimes be mutiny over playing time.  But by all accounts, Lynch and Jackson have a good relationship.  They'd better; they're bound to be on the field at the same time in 2008 for stretches.  When you have good players, use them - but not at the expense of sacrificing touches for your other skill players.  Schonert's biggest task will be getting Lynch and Jackson their touches without taking them away from guys like Lee Evans, James Hardy and Roscoe Parrish.

Two-headed rushing duos are hard to game plan for.  It looks like the Bills have a good one that they'll be able to use throughout the entire 2008 season.  Time will tell, however, just how big a part of Buffalo's offense they are this season.

Schonert confident in his new offense; should we be too? (Photo Source)

The Buffalo Bills have not only faced the music, they've embraced the fact that the music sucks.  The Bills knew that the offense the team put on the field in 2007 was, frankly, terrible, and something needed to change.  Said changes implemented were subtle, but they are expected to have a big impact for the club in the 2008 season.

Yet were the changes enough?  The team replaced offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild (who defected to Colorado State and almost assuredly won't be missed by many) with former quarterbacks coach Turk Schonert.  Replacing Schonert at quarterbacks coach is former Bills quarterback (and offensive quality control coach) Alex Van Pelt; Nathaniel Hackett, the son of long time NFL and college coach Paul Hackett, was hired as the team's offensive quality control coach.  No three coaches on Buffalo's staff face more pressure this season than Schonert, Van Pelt and Hackett.

The Obviously Subtle Changes
We all know about the changes that we can see for ourselves.  Trent Edwards is now the full-time starting quarterback.  The team is re-implementing the traditional blocking fullback role, signing veteran Darian Barnes for the role.  Rookie wideout James Hardy becomes the first Bills receiver in quite some time to be a red zone threat just because he's tall.  These developments have been discussed ad nauseam this off-season.

We've heard all of the promises, too.  The tight ends and running backs (specifically starter Marshawn Lynch) will be more involved in the passing game.  The system is designed to play to the strengths of its most important players, namely Lynch, Edwards and Lee Evans.  Speedy gadget receiver Roscoe Parrish will be used more often as well, and in more unique ways.

What's only being talked about as of recently are the systematic changes (beyond the fullback role) that Schonert is making.

Tempo Emphasis with a West Coast Flavor
Not only has Schonert promised to use his personnel differently, he's taking a different approach to the scheme itself, particularly in the passing game.  Edwards will be operating on quicker drops, more rapidly timed routes, and incorporating more of a West Coast feel with his backs and tight ends.  The passing game changes are large enough in the eyes of SI.com's Don Banks that he believes Marshawn Lynch, working in this West Coast-like system, is primed for a monster season:

I'm thinking Lynch could hang up some monster numbers this season. Maybe 1,300 yards on the ground, and another 700 through the air.

Schonert also plans on keeping opposing defenses off-balance by mixing up tempos, ranging from the slow, grind-it-out style preferred by Dick Jauron to no-huddle packages.  Schonert believes that Bills players are excited to use more up-tempo, no-huddle packages this season:

"We're going to do some of the things we did in Cincinnati, but it's more just about keeping the defense off balance,'' Schonert told (Banks). "We didn't do a lot of up tempo last year. I think they're excited about doing a little no-huddle, and those type of things. Formation-wise, I like putting people in different spots and making the defense adjust. Not just lining up the same all the time. We're going to move people around and be disruptive.''

The trick to mixing and matching tempos throughout the game is keeping it unpredictable.  That's where the pressure on coach Hackett comes in.  His job as offensive quality control coach is to make sure that the Bills, in four-game sets, don't display any tendencies as to when they prefer to go up-tempo.  Keeping their unpredictability unpredictable (wrap your head around that one) will be key in having this wrinkle be successful.

Of course, any time a new offensive system is put in - even if the terminology is similar - it's going to take time.  That issue is compounded by the fact that the team has a lot of youth at key positions (particularly Edwards) and questions along the offensive line (thank you, Jason Peters).  Patience will be required in order to see if any of these philosophical changes bring about more points in Buffalo.  But on the surface, this unit has a lot more promise than it did last season.

QB Trent Edwards, DE Chris Kelsay at Bills camp (Courtesy twoeightnine)

The Buffalo Bills held their first night practice of 2008 training camp last night at St. John Fisher College, and I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the festivities.  With pen and pad in hand, I spent the majority of my night frantically taking as many notes as possible.  It was a beautiful night, but unfortunately, I was not overly impressed by what I saw from our team.  Here are some observations, from units to players to coaches, that I hope you'll find useful (this could get long):

Edwards Struggles
For all the good that we've heard from Trent Edwards this early in camp, I saw a guy who struggled a lot last night.  He did mention post-practice that what the team was running last night was a whole bunch of new plays, which may have been the reason he looked so poor.  But he was missing receivers high, he was bouncing throws off the turf, and he was very obviously distraught at last night's misgivings.  He didn't show emotion like J.P. Losman used to, but you could definitely tell he was frustrated.  He did, however, make some very nice throws, including a couple nice deep balls.

Losman did not practice; his right thumb was taped up heavily.  He's also grown a very lovely beard this off-season.  Maybe he thinks Edwards' rookie beard is what caused him to lose his job?

Lynch (and Jackson) Looking Impressive
I absolutely loved what I saw out of Marshawn Lynch last night.  He looks more powerful and more agile than he was as a rookie.  Put aside anything you hear about Lynch's breakaway speed - I'm going to chalk that up to Lynch being beaten down by the rigors of his first NFL season.  The guy looked like a superstar in the making.  He also dove into the end zone for a touchdown (probably unnecessarily), drawing a big cheer from the gigantic crowd.

Interestingly, Turk Schonert had Lynch split out wide in a couple of formations.  He looked good catching the ball, but his understudy, Fred Jackson, looked better.

Jackson won't ever be a guy who can carry a full rushing load, but he's got that Kenneth Davis feel about him - he's above average at everything he does, especially catching the football.  He looked smooth and confident last night, and his style is different from that of Lynch.  They're going to complement each other very well.

Receiver/Tight End Notes
I came away with the impression on James Hardy that I thought I was going to come away with: this kid is going to struggle in a big way between the twenties this year.  He's still not a great route-runner, and looks positively sloth-like getting out of some of his breaks, especially on out routes.  But the dude is just straight up huge.  He'll make plays simply because he's big.  But from the looks of things right now, Josh Reed (who looked good as usual) seems like he's got a lock on the starting spot.  My guess is that Reed will play between the twenties, with Hardy being a mainstay on the field in the red zone.

Out of all of Buffalo's receivers, I came away most impressed by undrafted rookie free agent Jason Jones.  He comes from a very small school (Arkansas Pine-Bluff), but he was making some of Buffalo's corners look silly in one-on-one drills.  He's a smooth route-runner and shows great hands; he even blew past Will James on a beautifully executed deep route at one point.  I'm very interested to see how he performs in pre-season games.

At tight end, Derek Schouman and Robert Royal are light-years ahead of the competition.  They're easily the two most fluid athletes at the position.  Yes, Robert Royal makes Derek Fine and Courtney Anderson look unathletic.  I liked the way that Schouman and Royal played when they were together on the field.  Together, they might be productive enough to make us not hate the fact that they didn't draft a more athletic tight end this past April.

O-Line... well, they just need Jason Peters
Kirk Chambers better not be Buffalo's starting left tackle come opening day; I don't think I saw him successfully block Aaron Schobel in one-on-one drills once.  He's a tough blocker in the running game, but his pass protection is, well, poor.  Here's hoping that Jason Peters is back in camp before long...

The line struggled a bit in pass protection.  In 7-on-7 and 11-on-11, Edwards had the pocket collapse on him a couple times; he was forced to throw the ball away once or twice, and made some bad throws while pressured as well.  There were some holes for the team's running backs, though.

Offensive line coach Sean Kugler was working hard with rookie Demetrius Bell on his stance and pass pro technique.  Langston Walker was chipping in with some advice as well.  Bell looks ultra-athletic, but he was the greenest guy on the field by a long shot.  He's certainly a practice squad player at this point, but he's got big upside if the coaches can harness some of that athleticism.

D-Line Looks Fantastic
Buffalo's revamped defensive line looked outstanding, including the much-maligned (here, at least) starting defensive ends.  The unit was fast, powerful and disruptive - and that included the second unit line as well.

Marcus Stroud can't be blocked by one guy.  He just can't.  He's not a big guy, but his center of gravity is low, and he got a significant push every single play.  He pancaked Brad Butler in a one-on-one drill, and in some double team drills, he was able to slip blocks and get a push in most instances.

I loved the fact that John McCargo was following Stroud around like some sort of gigantic puppy.  Stroud was working with McCargo for a few minutes on block-shedding moves; it's good to see a vet helping out a talented youngster.  Those two looked great working together inside when they got to play together.  (For the record, Edwards and Evans were seen throwing off to the side as well.  They looked rather chummy.)

Copeland Bryan ran with the twos, pushing Chris Ellis to third team end, but I don't expect that to last long.  Ellis is green - he lacks lower body strength, so he certainly won't be playing on early downs - but Bryan was pedestrian.  Ellis should pass him on the depth chart by the end of camp.

Crowell Sits; Young LBs Looking Good
Angelo Crowell missed the practice; he had a wrap on his left knee and came out in shorts.  He watched the entire practice from the sidelines.  Keith Ellison replaced him on the strong side; Marcus Buggs took Ellison's spot with the second unit.

Speaking of Buggs, he has a very realistic shot at making this team.  He made one or two very nice hits in punt coverage drills, and while he's small, he looks like a very good athlete.  He's another young guy to keep your eyes on during pre-season action.

Paul Posluszny looked good.  He looks like he's in the best shape of his life, and, to be frank, like he could snap most of the Bills' receivers in half with a good lick.  He and Lynch are easily the team's most popular players.

Defensive Back Notes: Simpson Dinged
Ko Simpson left practice early with an apparent injury to his surgically repaired ankle.  He was walking on it fine on the sidelines, but he clearly was uncomfortable.  We'll see if he practices today.  To no one's surprise, George Wilson took his place with the top unit; he looks far more comfortable back there than he did last season.  He was making a few hits as well.

It was only his second practice, but Leodis McKelvin continued to struggle.  He looked better than what we heard in one-on-one coverage drills, but you can tell his ball skills are lacking.  He'll blanket a receiver, but he's not instinctual in knowing when to turn his head.  He's very good at making plays coming forward, however.  He also looked great returning punts (even earning the very loud praise of Bobby April on one return), and in positional drills, you can tell just how good an athlete the kid is.  He's very technical in his agility (read: amazing footwork), and when that can translate better to covering receivers, he should be outstanding.

Will James struggled.  A lot.  He repeatedly got burned deep covering receivers in single coverage.  He's still probably a lock to be the team's nickel corner on opening weekend.  Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer seem entrenched as the starters, and that shouldn't change any time soon.  Reggie Corner was actually playing ahead of McKelvin in dime packages; McKelvin played outside with the second unit.  I expect McKelvin to take James' nickel spot early in the season, and Corner is a bigger factor in this equation than many people tend to believe.

Ashton Youboty is very clearly the team's sixth corner - and I thought he looked very good.  He blatantly held Jason Jones in single coverage during one drill, but also made a nice break to intercept a pass in front of Felton Huggins.  He's much more physical than some of Buffalo's young guys, as well.  I hope he stays on the team - he's still got a world of talent.

General Observations
I love watching Perry Fewell and Bobby April coach.  They're loud, funny, and they get their guys moving hard.  Their units were easily the two strongest on the field last night.

The offense struggled mightily last night, but you can tell that Turk Schonert's offensive system will be better than Steve Fairchild's.  The tempo is faster, Edwards looks much more comfortable, and more guys are getting involved in the passing game (most notably Roscoe Parrish).

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the night practice experience.  Perhaps it was the idea that I had to go to work the next morning.  But it was good seeing the guys in Bills colors, and it was even better to hear the crowd chanting and reacting to what was going on on the field.  It was a good time.

The Bills practice from 1:00 to 3:05 today.  Buffalo Rumblings will recap the day's action later this afternoon.

Bills LB Kawika Mitchell (Photo Source)

The Buffalo Bills will hold their first night practice of 2008 training camp tonight at 7PM Eastern at St. John Fisher College.  Buffalo Rumblings will be represented by yours truly at the festivities; we're already scheduled to meet up with killascript and the Dukes of Awesome, and if anyone else wants to meet up to chat for a few minutes, I'm game.  Look for the lame-o wearing the Posluszny jersey, holding a digital camera and obsessively writing notes.  Hope to see some of you out there!

Here's what's been making headlines recently in Bills country...

Bills' Defensive Tweaks
Why are the Bills tweaking their defensive system, abandoning specific defensive line techniques and focusing on becoming more physical?  Not just because it makes sense.  They're doing it to take full advantage of the talents of DT Marcus Stroud.

The Bills will be milking this guy's talent for all its worth.  They'll be using the alignments that Stroud is most comfortable with - also known as the alignments that the Jacksonville Jaguars have employed during Stroud's time there - in an effort to get as much statistical production out of their new defensive star as possible.  Not a bad strategy at all.

“Obviously we’re hoping he’s going to end up being a big player for us, whether it’s versus the run or the pass,” Kollar said. “He’s obviously a little better in the run than in the pass. He played mainly on the left side in Jacksonville. So for us to say, ‘No, you’re not going to do that; we’re going to play you on the shade (the nose) all the time and you’re going to play a different side than you played on,’ that didn’t make sense to us.”

April Employing New Techniques
Bills Special Teams Coordinator Bobby April has long been known as an innovative, creative and energetic coach.  He's continued that tradition this season, reports The Buffalo News:

This summer, on occasion, he has punt returners working on a way to be more sure-handed at catching punts. The returners hold a football in their hands, a punt is boomed into the air. Before the ball comes to them, they must toss the ball they’re holding up, catch the ball that’s been punted, then catch the ball they originally held.

Players Liking Pads
Buffalo's first pads practice was yesterday, and as was mentioned throughout post-practice reports, the level of physicality was good.  Running back Marshawn Lynch made one of the better hits on the day, and the fans in attendance loved it.

Fred Jackson, the Bills’ other promising young runner, said players are eager for the first opportunity to practice in pads — even though it hurts later.

“That’s the process we need to take to get ready,” he said. “It’s good to get back to it. We’ll be taking those hits during the season.”

Losman Nicked
Chris Brown reports that backup QB J.P. Losman injured the thumb and index finger on his throwing hand yesterday after hitting his hand on the helmet of one of his linemen.  It's never good news to hear that your backup QB is dinged this early in camp, especially when your starter hasn't proven to be overly durable either.  We'll monitor Losman tonight at camp, but all indications are that he'll be fine (he continued to practice yesterday, after all).

Jackson, backs making plays as receivers (Photo Source)

Day three of 2008 Buffalo Bills Training Camp was a walk-through session; the team made up for the early walk-through today with the first pads practice of camp.  The Bills are completely done with two-a-days for the duration of camp, which may not be a bad thing, considering the way the team was hitting today.

Here's what occurred of note during today's practice, with, as usual, the bulk of the discussion topics lifted from the official site's excellent coverage...

This. Is. Football.
The pads were back on, which means that the Bills were playing physically.  Which means that football is back.  You have to love hearing lines like this:

"Marshawn Lynch got the drill started off with a good hit on linebacker Kawika Mitchell that drew some 'oohs' from the crowd."

Or this:

"In a two-on-two drill where two members of the wedge face two coverage players coming at them, Barnes was a coverage player and cracked rookie Demetrius Bell."

Or even this:

"Xavier Omon effectively lowered his shoulder to put a good lick on John Wendling..."

Running Backs Making Big Catches
We've discussed this very topic a bit already - and we're only five practices in - but running backs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson continue to make their presences felt in the passing game.

Fred Jackson had one of the prettier catches on the day as he out leapt Kawika Mitchell and Ko Simpson to make the reception down field on a throw from Trent Edwards.

Jackson has been a frequent target of QB Trent Edwards through the early portions of camp.  He was also a frequent target of Edwards during the latter parts of the '07 season; it's not a reach to expect Jackson to catch around 40 passes this season.  He should be involved heavily in the offense, even with Marshawn Lynch healthy.  That's good news for this ball club.

You have to love hearing this as well - if this can be utilized during the regular season, Lynch's celebrity will blossom in a big way...

Lynch may have trumped Wright however, as he made a reception 40 yards downfield as Edwards deftly dropped a ball between a pair of defenders for a big gain.

Welcome to the league, rookie
CB Leodis McKelvin, in his first official training camp practice as a Buffalo Bill, learned a valuable lesson at the hands of WR Roscoe Parrish today.

Leodis McKelvin got his welcome to the NFL from Roscoe Parrish. The speedy wideout flew past him on a go route and J.P. Losman hit him for what would've been a 40-yard gain.

Clearly, Leodis has still got some learning to do.

Impressed by Bowen
Working with the second unit as a rookie fifth-round draft pick, I've been impressed with what I've been hearing about Alvin Bowen.  He's been making plays against the pass, and today, he showed that he can be a factor defending the run as well.  He sounds like a very active linebacker.

John McCargo penetrated to grab Jackson behind the line, fifth-round pick Alvin Bowen also had a tackle for loss on an end around to Steve Johnson and Shaun Nua chipped in a tackle for loss.

Tuesday 7/29: Night Practice
Buffalo's first night practice will take place tomorrow night at 7PM, and Buffalo Rumblings will be represented there by your humble narrator (and we're going to meet up with one of the Dukes of Awesome!).  If anyone is able to make it out to tomorrow's night practice, I know that I would love to meet any and all Rumblers present.

Lynch could still be forced to deal with a civil suit (Photo Source)

Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch, who in late June accepted a plea deal and paid a $100 fine for a late May hit and run incident, will not be punished by the NFL.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is visiting Bills training camp in Pittsford today, confirmed to the media that Lynch has not violated the NFL's personal conduct policy.  The Commissioner did, however, visit shortly with Lynch to discuss the running back's responsibilities as an NFL player.

Lynch in June pleaded guilty to a traffic violation after a late May incident in which his Porsche SUV struck and injured Toronto native Kimberly Shpeley.  After weeks of speculation about his punishment - not to mention Lynch's lawyer-ordered refusal to speak to anyone about the situation - Lynch paid his modest fine and has had his driver's license revoked.

The fact that Lynch avoided league suspension is the latest in a line of good news for the Bills as they resolve an off-season's worth of off-field issues prior to the start of the 2008 season.  Lynch deserved the negative publicity he garnered during the month of June, but with this news breaking, it's finally time to do what I suggested we do about this issue at the beginning of July: move on.

No news has been reported since Lynch's legal punishment was handed down on whether or not he will face a civil suit from Shpeley and her attorney.

McKelvin signs, will practice in pads Monday (Photo Source)

After their opening day of practices in which the offense shined and several players were signed, the Buffalo Bills received more good news on Saturday.  Left tackle Jason Peters, who continued his holdout on Saturday, remains the lone off-field distraction for the Bills.

Rookie cornerback Leodis McKelvin won't be missing any more practice time, as the first-round pick inked a 5-year, $19.4 million deal with $12.6 million guaranteed to officially end his short holdout yesterday.  As the Bills have a closed practice session today, the first time Bills fans will get to glimpse McKelvin will be during Monday's practice in pads.

Here's what took place of note on the field during Saturday's two practice sessions (courtesy of BuffaloBills.com):

Running Backs Catching Passes
As promised, new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert is making a concerted effort to get Buffalo's running backs more involved in the passing game this season.  Both Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson - and even Dwayne Wright to an extent - made some plays in the passing game, as Trent Edwards had another efficient day throwing in the short and intermediate areas.  We're very interested to see how this practice field development manifests itself during pre-season action.

Play of Note: "Jackson slipped down the sideline and Edwards tried to drop in ball over Paul Posluszny in coverage. Poz had solid coverage 20 yards downfield, but Jackson leaped up and over Posluszny to pull the ball in for what looked to be a reception and a 30-yard gain along the near sideline."

Schouman moving up depth chart?
As was the case during spring practices, second-year tight end Derek Schouman has been taking the bulk of first-team reps at the position - even with veteran Robert Royal fully cleared to practice.  An interesting note from Chris Brown:

In Royal's defense he's still getting his legs up under him after doing no football related work in the spring since he was still rehabbing. But Schouman has looked good in the passing game making plays every practice. And as I said earlier in the offseason when the pads go on he won't disappoint. He likes the physical nature of the game.

Royal is currently second in the tight end rotation, followed by Courtney Anderson, Tim Massaquoi and Derek Fine.  Definitely an interesting situation brewing at this position.

James Impressing at Corner
In Buffalo's defensive backfield, veteran free agent acquisition Will James continues to impress.  He's repeatedly making plays on the ball, tipping passes and making things happen in the turnover department.  He's not alone, however; Terrence McGee, Ashton Youboty and even rookie Reggie Corner have made some similar play themselves.  With McKelvin already two days behind in terms of on-field work, James seems to be a virtual lock for the nickel role - unless, of course, he challenges for a starting role.

Play of Note: "Later on in practice however, James successfully tipped a pass in the air and it was caught by John DiGiorgio for an interception. James began running up the field pumping his fist."

Good Pass Rush, or Bad Protection?
Buffalo's defensive front seven successfully got some heat on the team's quarterbacks during Saturday morning's session.  This is either a good sign for a defense that sorely needs to create pressure, or a bad sign for an offensive line playing without its best player.

Play of Note: "A short time later Kawika Mitchell appeared to come on a delayed blitz and would have taken Edwards down from the blind side had it been live football."

The Bills have a closed, walk-through practice session on Sunday.  They'll put the pads on for the first time in a lone Monday practice session, and Tuesday marks the team's first night practice.

RB Lynch still getting negative press (Photo Source)

In just over a month's time, Buffalo Bills RB Marshawn Lynch has gone from league up-and-comer to league poster boy; his admission of guilt to a hit-and-run accident which left a Toronto native injured has been five weeks of negative publicity for the second-year runner and his team.

Despite the fact that the legal process eventually led to a punishment for Lynch (a very modest fine and the revoking of his license), the runner is still being pounded on not only for his actions, but for the length of time it took to resolve the case.  I'm here to tell you that the latter needs to stop, mostly because it's ludicrously unfair to Lynch and his attorney, Michael Caffery.

Leading the offensive against Lynch's reputation is none other than Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk - a blog that has made its name promoting controversial issues.  The website is famous for its "All-Turd Team", a roster consisting of the league's biggest legal offenders in any given season.  I'm not here to debate whether or not Lynch should have been on that roster, because I'm of the mind that he clearly qualifies; what bugs me is Florio's opinion on the situation:

Marshawn Lynch, RB, Bills:  His hit-and-run incident followed by several weeks of refusing to own up to it could win him an automatic berth in the All-Turd Hall of Fame.

There are two things that are incredibly, unbelievably wrong with Florio's assessment that could lead to a misinterpretation of the Lynch situation.  First and foremost, Lynch's "refusal to own up to it" was a legal decision protected by the Fifth Amendement of the Constitution - the right against self-incrimination.  More importantly, Florio seems to be translating "refusal to own up to it" as "denial" - something Lynch clearly never did.  He kept his mouth shut - again, completely legal, and never attempting to deny the accusations - and let the legal process play out.  Lynch shouldn't take flack for keeping his mouth shut, because he had every right to do so.  Once the investigations closed and the deal was in place, Lynch immediately released his statement admitting guilt.  That's the best possible situation that could have occurred once the issue began to drag out.

Secondly - let's not mistake Lynch's legal issues as something that is damaging to the league's reputation.  There was never any evidence presented that Lynch was intoxicated, and it's a bit cynical to assume that - especially since Lynch was spotted drinking water at bars that evening.  Outside of Buffalo and PFT, Lynch's story has been virtually a non-factor.  Meanwhile, Bears RB Cedric Benson is busted twice on alcohol-related charges, released by his team, and also lives with the fact that he's a Top-5 bust.  That's All-Turd Hall of Fame.  But Lynch gets ragged on because of an unfair public perception pushed forward by people like Mike Florio.

It's time to let go.  Lynch received a very minor punishment, has issued a public apology, and it's assumed he'll receive more light punishment from the team and perhaps the league (that's still to be decided).  Please don't misunderstand me, either - I'm not defending Lynch's actions.  He made a horrible error, and deserves the punishment he's gotten.  But it was an accident.  He deserves the negative press for that accident.  Everything after was done by the letter of the law.  The kid's made his mistake; it's time to forgive him, move on, and hope he keeps his nose clean from this point forward.

Every once in a while, a glut of different topics related to the Buffalo Bills, this blog, or blogging in general come up that I'd like to post about, but can't fit into an entire post themselves.  So I let those topics queue up for a while, and when there's enough to write an article fit for any person with ADD, I put it out there.

Now, I'm putting a name to it: The Obligatory Smorgasbord Post.  Be prepared for anything and everything in these posts; I undergo periods of time when I get rather scatterbrained, so either bear with me or strap on your beer goggles and read along.  Onward...

    We're excited to announce that this coming Monday (because more of you are around on Mondays, doing that "work" thing), we'll have an exclusive interview posted with Bills linebacker... well, maybe you'll just be left in suspense in regards to the whole name thing.  The young man we spoke with was very kind in quickly getting us responses, and we're sure that you'll learn a thing or two about him.  This will be Rumblings' second player interview in the blog's history (we interviewed Paul Posluszny last August).  Should be fun!

    In case you missed this FanPost, I'm looking for interested parties for Buffalo Rumblings-centric fantasy football this year.  Last season we had one league; blog population has since exploded, however, so we're fully prepared for multiple leagues, multiple commissioners, and multiple prizes.  Please let us know in that FanPost if you're interested; the FanPost also has more details, including another teaser about an upcoming awesome announcement...

    I've got to admit, Roger Goodell's assurances that the Bills aren't leaving Buffalo lifted my spirits today.  Don't worry - I racked my brain looking for reasons not to believe him, and couldn't come up with anything.  The folks in Toronto (a.k.a. a certain Mr. Rogers) may want a football team, but greed doesn't necessarily produce results.  I'm sick to death of this Toronto topic - as are fans of the CFL, I'm sure - and I'm hopeful that Goodell's remarks will put the topic to rest, if only for a little while.

    Ron from NM may not believe Marshawn Lynch's statement that he was unaware that he struck Kim Shpeley with his SUV, but I'm going on record to applaud Lynch after his statement and legal punishment this afternoon.  The kid made a mistake, and to me, his statement was thorough, intricately explained, and honest.  I'll agree with the idea that Lynch shouldn't be breathing easy yet, but from the sounds of it, he's owning up to the mistake and attempting to move on.  I applaud him for that; it's a start.

    I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Deadspin; for those unaware of this blog's existence, it's essentially the biggest, most popular sports blog on Planet Earth.  I'm not a huge fan - it's good for an occasional laugh, but their take on sports isn't my cup of tea - but as a blogger, I have immense respect for Deadspin's founding editor, Will Leitch.  For three-ish years, Leitch was at the battle front of the supposed war between traditional media and blogs; he's controversial, but he fought that "war" with the best of intentions.

I'm not one to talk about bloggers much - in fact, I think part of the reason bloggers don't get a lot of respect is because they try to pump up their reps too often - but Leitch, like SB Nation's very own Blez, is a founding father of sports blogging.  Today, Leitch ended his three-year run as Deadspin's editor as he pursues career opportunities (ironically, in traditional media).  Here's a salute from one obscure blogger to one not-so-obscure blogger - a lot of us wouldn't be here if it weren't for dudes like Leitch.  Mazel Tov.