Bills training camp 8/13: Peterman moving up, Matthews with the first team

The Buffalo Bills have had their first practice today with the newbies since the blockbuster trades that happened on Friday. Jordan Matthews makes his first appearance in Bills gear, Nathan Peterman is making progress and Reggie Ragland hasn’t moved.

Injury Update

Cordy Glenn missed practice today with that lingering ankle injury and is a legitimate concern moving forward. Coach McDermott hopes he can start Week 1 but admits that Glenn may miss some time. In that event, he would look to rookie second-round pick Dion Dawkins to slide over to the left side. He spent most of his college snaps at left tackle, but it’s still a concern moving from the American Athletic Conference.

Shaq Lawson returned to practice today after having a minor groin injury last week and being limited. This injury wasn’t much of a concern to begin with but it is good to see him back as a full participant.

Kevon Seymour is still dealing with a foot injury and did not practice. He has graduated from the walking boot and was doing a bit of work on the sidelines. Seymour may not play this week but he should be ready to go for the start of the season.

Shareece Wright left practice early with a thumb injury. No news on the severity of the injury yet. With Seymour out and EJ Gaines just joining the team, Wright was getting first-team reps today.

Though he finished practice, new wide receiver Jordan Matthews was being evaluated for a chest injury following practice, which cause him to miss his scheduled media session.

The Receiver Carousel

To start out practice, the first-team offense included Zay Jones and Andre Holmes on the outside and Anquan Boldin in the slot. Jordan Matthews started practice with the third-team offense just to get his feet wet. He worked a lot on the sidelines with receivers coach Phil McGeoghan with hand fighting off the line and soaking in the new offensive system. Matthews moved into first-team work quickly playing alongside Jones and Boldin.

The first step in the process for Matthews will be getting him ready to play Thursday night against his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Zay Jones has been working with only the first-team offense and Andre Holmes has been mixed with the ones and twos. Previously Jones got work with both teams. Rod Streater was the last name to take reps with the first-team offense. Streater has been outstanding this camp and his chances to make the roster are going up.

Nathan Peterman Moves Up

Peterman opened up practice with the second-team offense and TJ Yates was demoted to the third team. This move was likely a combination of Peterman playing well and Yates playing terrible in Thursday’s loss to the Vikings. Peterman has continued to make progress throughout camp and if he continues to get better, he will end up being the backup quarterback on Sundays. Today Peterman led the offense down the field in the 2-minute drill with a touchdown pass to Brandon Tate on 4th down with 25 yards to go.

On the other hand, Yates roster spot is in jeopardy and will have to dig himself out a hole. He was unimpressive in his debut with the Bills and will have to show these coaches that he has the ability to come in games and not lose games if anything were to happen to Tyrod Taylor.

Reggie Ragland Rotates With The Twos

Reggie Ragland has been struggling all training camp and was eventually demoted to the third-team defense. Lately Gerald Hodges has been taking all of the reps at with the second team after he took over for Ragland. Today, Ragland took a step up and had some late reps with the second-team. He still has a ways to go but it is very possible that he covers that ground much sooner than later.

EJ Gaines Gets Comfortable

Recently acquired corner EJ Gaines will look to make an immediate impact on this defense. He started working with the second-team defense and even made a notable pass break up against fellow newcomer Jordan Matthews. Gaines had a great rookie year with the Rams as a sixth-round pick and he will be given the opportunity to get back that level of play. Gaines is better suited for this zone based defense than Ronald Darby was, not that Darby wasn’t good, he is just better in man-to-man. Gaines could very well be the starter opposite to Tre’Davious White when week one rolls around.