2008 Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College came to a close today, and the Bills were without perhaps their two most valuable offensive players. Jason Peters failed to report for the final day of camp - it's still unclear if (not when) Peters plans to report at all - and quarterback Trent Edwards, nursing a deep thigh bruise, sat out Wednesday's morning practice finale.
Peters missed all 26 days of Bills camp - accumulating nearly $400,000 in fines in the process - and all indications are that his holdout will continue as the Bills return to their headquarters in Orchard Park tomorrow. The Bills still have, and are expected to exercise, their right to fine Peters up to $15,000 per day during his unexcused absence. While some Bills players, including OG Derrick Dockery, are hopeful that Peters will report soon, it's pretty safe to say that the fan base is not.
Edwards, who injured his knee during Tuesday night's practice in a collision with RB Marshawn Lynch on a simple run play, watched the day's practice in sweatpants from the sideline. His injury is not considered serious, but he is day to day at this point, and it's still unclear whether or not Edwards will suit up for Buffalo's third pre-season game in Indianapolis this Sunday. Lynch, meanwhile, experienced only minor swelling and pain in his knee and was able to practice in full on Wednesday.
Besides Edwards, also missing practice Wednesday were WR James Hardy (hamstring), WR Roscoe Parrish (knee), TE Derek Schouman (knee), OT Matt Murphy (shoulder), LB John DiGiorgio (calf) and LB Jon Banks (hamstring).
Rather than going through the usual practice reports (located here and here), we'll instead take a quick look back at training camp as a whole by doing the whole cliched and overdone "Stock Report" thing. Here's who helped themselves and hurt themselves during 2008 Bills Training Camp:
+ Bullish: CB Ashton Youboty Left for dead after the signing of Will James and the drafting of Leodis McKelvin and Reggie Corner, no cornerback has been more impressive to date than Youboty. He's given up some big plays, but he's also flashed outstanding tackling ability and solid ball skills. He's fought hard for a roster spot, and deserves to make the team's final roster. Time will tell whether his work has paid off.
- Bearish: RB Dwayne Wright He's come down with a serious case of fumble-itis this pre-season (including one in each pre-season game) and it's costing him. Xavier Omon has started to steal reps ahead of him, and the second-year pro is in danger of losing his #3 RB role to the rookie out of Division II NW Missouri State.
+ Bullish: OT Demetrius Bell He only started playing football in 2005, but Bell has been impressive to date. He's very green and shouldn't be much more than a depth player, but Bell has big-time potential. He's gotten a lot of opportunities with Peters holding out and with Murphy and Patrick Estes injured, and he hasn't disappointed.
- Bearish: LB Keith Ellison Routinely out of position on passing downs, Ellison has been responsible (though not the sole LB responsible) for surrendering some large chunks of yardage through the air this pre-season. The Bills are experimenting with John DiGiorgio at outside linebacker, and DiGiorgio could wind up being the primary backup at an outside spot in place of the sliding - but still important - Ellison.
+ Bullish: SS Bryan Scott Donte Whitner has been nicked up a bit, and while the defense has missed him, Scott's play has been excellent. He's continued to show a knack for stopping the run when up in the box, and he hasn't been a liability in coverage. He's involved with nearly every special teams coverage unit as well. You're going to be hearing Scott's name a lot in 2008.
- Bearish: DT John McCargo Once expected to start next to Marcus Stroud at defensive tackle, McCargo started out as the fourth tackle in camp and hasn't earned his way up the depth chart. Currently, Kyle Williams and Spencer Johnson are battling to start next to Stroud, and McCargo doesn't seem to be a large part of the equation. He'll play a lot, but he is decidedly fourth in Buffalo's stellar four-man rotation. That's not great news for the former first-round pick.