The Bills held their final night practice of 2007 training camp last night, and have just two more padded practices until this thing closes out on Wednesday. A few injured Bills are attempting to make it back onto the field, some pretty important playmakers are starting to make plays and position battles are reigning supreme. Let's go:
Crowell and Fowler out, Butler and Scobey returning?
LB Angelo Crowell and C Melvin Fowler continue to miss workouts - Crowell with swelling in his left knee and Fowler with an ankle injury he sustained a week ago today. Neither injury is considered very serious, but it's still surprising that neither of them has made it back onto the field within a week.
RB Josh Scobey could be close to returning...
... as could OG Brad Butler.
Losman, Whitner Making Plays Monday Night
From the sounds of it, J.P. Losman may be shedding off some of the rust he's exhibited in the first two pre-season games:
Man, I love the J.P.-to-Lee connection. Let's see this Friday night, Mr. Losman.
SS Donte Whitner - of whom we here at Rumblings have seemingly begged for big plays - may be ready to deliver:
Whitner seems to be coming on particularly after strong performance against Atlanta last Friday night.
Boy, do we need this from Whitner. It's obvious that the defense isn't up to shutting down opponents yardage wise (did you see Joey Harrington and Jason Snelling torch our first unit Friday night?), but if the team can force turnovers, they can keep points off the board. And in the end, that's all that matters.
MLB/RG Still Open; Edwards at #2 QB?
As expected, the battles for the starting middle linebacker and right guard jobs are still open:
Jauron on MLB:
Jauron on RG:
While I still don't believe it logically possible to have a "comfort level" at any position without a true starter, I'm still willing to hold out throwing a hissy fit about it until after the Titans game. That is the absolute maximum, in my mind, that Jauron can let these things go unresolved, especially with right guard. Time will tell whether or not he's ready to make a decision on his own, but I'm not counting on it.
One last note: Chris Brown, Bills blogger extraordinaire over at the official site, seems to think that Trent Edwards could be this team's #2 QB. Edwards has been taking the majority of second-team reps in the practice setting ahead of Craig Nall. Brown's point:
I love CB, but I couldn't disagree more. While it's certainly conceivable for Edwards to see playing time this season, it will only be if the team's record is terrible, the Bills are getting blown out and there's five minutes left in regulation. Edwards is still a rookie, regardless of how good he's looked against the respective scrubs of the Saints and Falcons, and he's just not ready to face an NFL defense. Any other situation than the one described above, and Nall is in the game, no questions asked. I'm excited to see how Edwards performs in the last two pre-season games, but make no mistake - the chances of Edwards supplanting Nall as the #2 are remote at best. He's just not ready yet.