Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills News, 8/2

Bills Roundup: Wednesday Highlights, DB's Step Up - BuffaloBills.com
"Check out the highlights from Wednesday night's practice, plus hear from Jairus Byrd on his big hit, and Eric Wood on coming back from his injury."

WGR 550 - Training Camp Notebook: Day 6
"Here are some observations from Wednesday night's practice session that really stood out."

Transcript: HC Gailey, S Byrd & DT Dareus - BuffaloBills.com
The two defensive young veterans joined the head coach in talking with the media after Wednesday's night practice.

Under Review: Da'Norris Searcy - BuffaloBills.com
"On this edition of Under Review, Hannah Buehler talks with Bills safety Da'Norris Searcy about Training Camp, his connection with the fans and his favorite things to do on a day off."

Chan Gailey Wednesday Press Conference - BuffaloBills.com
"The Bills head coach talks about Kelvin Sheppard missing practice, the solid play of the defensive backs, and the play of the second and third team offenses."

Practice Notes - Day 6 - DBs active, Shep sits - BuffaloBills.com
"The defensive backs were the story of Buffalo’s second night practice of training camp. The men in the secondary have certainly had their share of pass breakups through the first week of camp practices, but on Wednesday night four of their six pass breakups went for interceptions."

Inside The Bills | Walk-thrus reinforce WR duties
"It’s happened every year I’ve been in this league," Receivers coach Bob Bicknell told Buffalobills.com. "A lot of people are going to end up playing and a lot of things are going to happen in this league. And you want that (backup) guy to be able to come in and have the same reps as a David Nelson did on stuff. Well he’s not going to have that so you have to give him the best chance to succeed. I think those guys have done a good job of trying to accomplish that in our walk through periods with Fitz."

Inside The Bills | Mario’s take on LTs
"They are doing a great job," he said. "I will say Chris Hairston has very good feet for a big guy. They are both outstanding guys. Good pass blockers, good run blockers. As long as they are into the scheme, understand the calls and know what to do amongst the system everything will be alright. I think they are looking pretty good."

Inside The Bills | Bicknell move to WRs coach huge
"A former coordinator in NFL Europe and a former O-line and tight ends coach, Bicknell is now in charge of the wide receivers. The benefit of Bicknell’s coaching is his ability to teach the offense as a whole to the receiving corps instead of just their assignments. He’s also been able to offer Ryan Fitzpatrick some alternatives on plays that could present better solutions to getting those plays more effectively executed."

Inside The Bills | Finally play calling continuity
"This season marks the first time since the 2000 campaign that the Bills enter the third straight year with the same offensive coordinator. Here’s the history."

Inside The Bills | Ultimate Gilmore fans at camp
These fans have followed Bills rookie Stephon Gilmore through high school, South Carolina, and now the Bills as he's played on their favorite team for some time now. They got to meet him last night.

Inside The Bills | Wood ready to do more
"It felt fine," he said. "It felt like it has the past couple of weeks. A little sore, just from doing a lot. I feel good and I’m encouraged and ready to move forward with it."

Inside The Bills | Shep out for couple of days
"He may miss a couple of days we’ll see," said Gailey. "He’s got a situation he’s dealing with. It’s medical and that’s all I’m going to say about that right now."

Inside The Bills | David Nelson update
"Nelson told Buffalobills.com that in a best case scenario he’ll be back on the practice field sometime this weekend. Ryan Fitzpatrick relies heavily on the slot receiver in the passing game."

Inside The Bills | Chan on QBs Thigpen & Young
"It’s a little early, but it’s a concern," said Gailey of the accuracy issues. "It’s not just Tyler. He and Vince are both having some trouble there. The twos in general are not performing very well offensively. Our ones are doing some good things, but our twos are struggling right now offensively."

Inside The Bills | The plan for Brad Smith
"Like we did in OTAs we took about the first six or eight practices and worked him strictly at quarterback," said Gailey. "Then we’ll start to work him at receiver and start the Wildcat package later on. We’ll have all that going for him at a later date. But being the third quarterback he needs to know how to do the base offense, the two minute stuff and all that. So he has a lot of work to get ready at quarterback before he starts that other stuff."

Inside The Bills | C.J. voted one of fittest in NFL
"The publication Men’s Fitness recently ranked the Top 25 fittest players in the NFL and C.J. Spiller made the list. Spiller ranked 17th on the list. Here’s some of what C.J. shared with respect to his workout regimen with Men’s Fitness."

Predictalator simulations say Bills a playoff team - The Buffalo News
"The Predictalator computed the Bills will score an average of 20.7 points per game and allow 19.3 points. In the 50,000 simulations, they won an average of 8.6 games, comfortably above Las Vegas' over-under number."

Two words on Eric Wood: Safety first - The Buffalo News
Mark Gaughan goes around the NFL to show why Eric Wood is being brought back slowly. Nobody wants him to re-tear anything.

Bill Polian talks Buffalo, the Bills and more - The Buffalo News
"Jerry Glanville told me when I first came, 'If you stay in Buffalo for two seasons or more, you'll be a Bill for life,' " Polian said. "There are very few of us that ever come here that don't leave with a positive attitude and warm feeling. It truly is the City of Good Neighbors. This place is really unique. This is a very special place for anybody. You make friends easily and they stay friends for life."

Day Six: Gailey troubled by second-team offense - The Buffalo News
"The second-team defense once again did not give the offense much room to move during Wednesday night's practice before a full crowd of about 2,500 fans at St. John Fisher College." See the full recap of practice through the link.

T.J. Graham breaks down Olympic 100 meters - The Buffalo News
T.J. Graham has unique insight into the 100 meter. Read the article about how to run it, who he thinks will win, and more.

T.J. has the speed of an Olympian - The Buffalo News
"T.J. Graham eventually took an interest in track and field. He developed into a nationally ranked prep star in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. His searing speed was what got him a football scholarship at North Carolina State, where Trevor Graham operated his Sprint Capitol USA track club."

Polian still a Buffalo guy at heart - The Buffalo News
"Polian's name will be added to the Bills' Wall of Fame later this season. There should be a place waiting for him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a possibility he could not comprehend Wednesday. The young and fiery general manager, just 41 years old when the Bills hired him as personnel director, will celebrate his 70th birthday later this year."

WGR 550 - Gailey Wants More Out Of 2nd-team O; Sheppard Sits
"You don't exactly have to be well-versed in the different nuances of NFL offenses to realize one thing through the first six days of practice at Buffalo Bills training camp. The second team offense has not been good, and that falls directly on the shoulders of vying backup quarterback candidates Tyler Thigpen and Vince Young."

WGR 550 - Bills' Fitzpatrick Reminds Polian Of Reich
"I have felt since I saw Ryan play at Harvard that he had the capability to win in the league" Polian said. "I felt about Ryan Fitzpatrick, with a little different skill set by the way, the way I felt about Frank Reich. When I saw him(Fitzpatrick) play, I said this guy's a winner. This guy's got that spark about him that just tells you he can win football games and of course we know what Frank did under the most difficult and trying conditions."

WGR 550 - Bills' Receivers Need To Earn Trust Says Fitzpatrick
"It's such a big thing in the quarterback-receiver relationship," quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick told The Howard Simon Show on Wednesday. "I would say that's the most important thing, is me being able to trust a guy." See more of Fitz's interview.

WGR 550 - Bills' Byrd Won't Let Contract Talk Affect Year
"Can it be a distraction? Yeah, sure it can be a distraction. But I won't let it be a distraction," Byrd declared. "People always say you want to get an extension but I signed something. Just like they say Buddy [Nix] is a man of his word, I'm gonna be a man of my word. I signed a contract, I'm still under contract for another year, so it works both ways. I think that's something a lot of people don't understand that they want him to be a man of his word and at the same time the player has to, too."

Camp Confidential: Buffalo Bills - AFC East Blog - ESPN
James Walker's big report from Bills training camp includes some big questions, reason for optimism and pessimism, and his observations from camp.

The forgotten Bill: Kyle Williams - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"Fast forward to this season and Williams suddenly has become the forgotten Bill. Williams missed nearly the entire 2011 season with a foot injury, and Buffalo has beefed up its defense so much that you may not mention Williams' name until fourth on its defensive line."

Buffalo Bills rookie lineman Mark Asper learning to be versatile | Democrat and Chronicle
"Asper, who was out of football for two years after high school due to a religious mission commitment, is 26 years old, married, and the father of two daughters, so he’s not exactly your typical rookie. But that one play sure made him feel like a rookie, and he knows there’s going to be plenty more of those as he learns to play a new position."

Graham eager to impress - Victor Post
"If he gets open it is hard to catch him," said Chan Gailey, Buffalo head coach, said about the team’s third round draft pick in last April’s NFL Draft. "He got open and he is catching the ball very well right now. He has still got a lot to learn, but he is doing some good things out there."

Buffalo Bills: Bills' Receivers Impressive at Camp : Rant Sports
"The Bills’ offense has some serious weapons featured in it and the team only needs a couple more pieces to help them take the next step towards being a successful organization again. This preseason Buffalo will be testing out a variety of different receivers, but the threesome above clearly have separated themselves from the rest. This is certainly a battle to keep an eye on, as the winner will end up locking down a starting spot in one of the up-and-coming offenses in the AFC."

Redskins, Bills cleared in NFL bounty investigation, report says - ESPN
"The NFL has not found evidence that bounty programs existed for the Washington Redskins or the Buffalo Bills when Gregg Williams on either staff, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing an anonymous league source."

Spiller among those invested in the Olympics - The Buffalo News
Mark Gaughan goes through a list of Bills with friends on the Olympic team.

Do-it-all Jackson best running back you never hear about - CBSSports.com
"Nevertheless, Fred Jackson is everything you want from a running back, with one NFL assistant telling me that he reminds him of Marcus Allen because 'he glides more than he runs, and he sees everything.'"

Five questions from Bills camp - CBSSports.com
"I don't think the Bills are yet on par with the Patriots, but they have drawn even with the Jets. As with every team there are questions that have to be answered in camp, which I address below."

ProFootballWeekly.com - Bills WR Johnson balances humility and swagger
Stevie Johnson, a wideout out of Kentucky, "had a great deal of swagger to him," former Bills director of college scouting Tom Modrak recalled to PFW recently. "He was one of those guys that after the catch, he was always trying to make something happen, and generally did."