The Buffalo Bills had their first night practice of 2016 training camp Tuesday evening at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, NY. A handful of national media members were there, including Ladainian Tomlinson and Kimberly Jones of NFL Network. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and the Pegulas were also on hand to take in the under-the-lights session. Here are the major storylines:
- Reggie Bush on the field: The veteran running back fielded punts right away. He caught his first two... then muffed the third, according to Prescott Rossi. However, Bush was to quick to redeem himself after he scraped off the rust. In what Vic Carucci called “the highlight of the night,” Bush cut against the grain and into the open field on a long run to the right side of the field. The Bills’ official Facebook page posted a video of the big play.
- Consistency from Walter Powell: In his practice recap, Sal Capaccio noted that Powell “continues to make a push at WR.” The dark-horse to win the No. 3 receiver job “was targeted several times on deep balls Monday and then again on Tuesday he caught a deep pass from Tyrod Taylor down the sidelines between two defensive backs for a TD.”
- Report on Watkins’ return: Carucci reported that Monday, August 8 is the target date for Sammy Watkins’ to return to the practice field for the Bills.
- Lap time (update): The penalty laps for offsides / false start penalties continued — they’ll probably be “a thing” for the camp’s entirety — on Tuesday evening, Jerry Hughes and Jordan Mills were sent for a trip around the field for flags.
- Gilmore steady, Darby’s best practice: On Darby’s night, Carucci called it “by far his best practice to date.” He pointed out that he and Gilmore did a good job contesting plays and they didn’t get much of a challenge from receivers not named Robert Woods, Greg Salas or Dez Lewis.
- Enemkpali “abysmal” in coverage, Striker excels at OLB: Carucci made mention of Enemkpali getting burned by Greg Little and Capaccio observed UDFA Striker excelling both as a pass-rusher and in coverage in Enemkpali’s place. Matthew Fairburn wrote that Striker took first-team reps.
- Big hit from Aaron Williams: The veteran safety, who’s returning from a serious neck injury, had a pass breakup on a throw down the seam intended for tight end Blake Annen, which created a collision. Neither player was injured. Another big hit came by way of an unblocked Lorenzo Alexander popping James Wilder in the backfield.
- Charles Clay sits out: Fairburn — among other reporters — noticed that the Bills’ tight end was not on the field Tuesday night, writing “Clay has been spending a lot of time getting stretched by the training staff, and the Bills are clearly being careful with him.” He also mentioned Rex Ryan has insisted he’s not worried about Clay’s health.