We're eleven days into 2009 Buffalo Bills training camp. Y'all know the drill by now. Our de facto camp reporter, MattRichWarren, is at tonight's practice taking in the Bills for I believe the tenth day this year. (Jealous? Me too.) He's tweeting live from practice; you'll find his updates after the jump.
7:09 PM: Not practicing tonight: OT Brad Butler, WR Steve Johnson, DE Copeland Bryan, DT Marcus Smith, and whoever the heck No. 65 is. FS Jairus Byrd and WR James Hardy remain on PUP, so obviously they are not practicing either.
7:17 PM: Leodis McKelvin has returned to the practice field, though he is not doing any team work. Some good news on the injury front: WR Steve Johnson told Matt at yesterday's practice that he'd be back by week's end, and the fact that he's doing some drills on the sideline with a trainer is an encouraging sign.
7:26 PM: Trent Edwards is currently working on red zone fade passes with his tight ends, most prominently rookie Shawn Nelson. He overthrew Nelson on one, but hit him on another for a score. Buffalo's tight ends collectively have impressed to this point in camp, and it's continuing tonight.
7:30 PM: Ashton Youboty is running with the ones tonight at cornerback in place of McKelvin, who is not doing any team work. Demetrius Bell is also an injury fill-in tonight, moving up to the first unit offensive line at right tackle in place of the injured Brad Butler. Paul Posluszny just lit 77 up. Nic Harris put a big hit on Xavier Omon as well.
7:35 PM: Reggie Corner is taking first-team reps at nickel corner ahead of Drayton Florence, even with Youboty working on the outside. The offense is currently working heavily on play-action passes. Paul Posluszny brought his A game tonight and is putting licks on people left and right, including one on Fred Jackson. First big play of the night: CB Lydell Sargeant returns a Bruce Hall fumble for six.
7:41 PM: While Bobby April commands his troops in the art of punt coverage and blocking for punt returners, Buffalo's offensive linemen are working on hand techniques.
7:51 PM: Perhaps it's just because Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly is in the house, but the Bills are really getting after it tonight. Plenty of good hitting.
8:01 PM: Demetrius Bell is looking good in one-on-one drills; he just stoned Ryan Denney. John McCargo cleanly beat Kirk Chambers, who is playing second-team left tackle this evening. Meanwhile, in 7-on-7, Lee Evans caught consecutive passes from Trent Edwards. Shawn Nelson scored a touchdown in the red zone lined up in a bunch formation. Ryan Fitzpatrick is looking a bit indecisive, but did have a nice throw to Justin Jenkins, who is having a nice camp.
8:04 PM: Youboty intercepted a Fitzpatrick pass in the red zone, taking it out of the hands of Josh Reed. Shawn Nelson has scored another touchdown in red zone work.
8:09 PM: Bell continues to put in solid work; he did a nice job picking up Kawika Mitchell on a blitz, then completely shut down Chris Kelsay. Eric Wood continues to (more than) hold his own against Marcus Stroud. Drayton Florence is now taking first-team reps at cornerback.
8:16 PM: Fitzpatrick is picking his game up a bit, hitting Roscoe Parrish and Derek Fine for long gainers down the seam. Lee Evans and Terrell Owens had a pretty massive miscommunication on a reverse, as both tried to take the handoff. Shawn Nelson continues to get a lot of reps in the red zone as a slot receiver.
8:20 PM: Matt has been really impressed with Bell at right tackle this evening. Fitzpatrick just had another red zone pass intercepted by Youboty. Fred Jackson had an excellent blitz pickup in the red zone that allowed Edwards to complete a touchdown toss to Derek Schouman.
8:32 PM: Who's excited to hear the words "Adrian Wilson flashback"?! Bryan Scott just came in completely unscathed for a would-be sack on Edwards. Up until that point, the pass protection on the night had been quite good. Kirk Chambers has replaced Bell at right tackle.
8:36 PM: Some nice back-and-forth going on between the offensive and defensive lines right now. Geoff Hangartner flattened Kyle Williams on one play. Chris Ellis had a nice speed rush from left end working against Jonathan Scott with the second unit. (Fitzpatrick still got the pass off, however - yet another completion to Nelson.)
8:42 PM: Trent Edwards is just a hair off tonight, barely missing Owens and Evans on deep throws. Kyle Williams just cleanly beat Andy Levitre for a would-be sack. Eric Wood is having another excellent evening.
8:45 PM: The team has moved to the walk-through portion of their workout.