By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Bills were back on the field at St. John Fisher College on Sunday, getting in some more work at their home away from home. The last time the team practiced, it was on Friday in Orchard Park.
On Sunday, the Bills were very shorthanded once again, in particular, along the offensive line. Mitch Morse (concussion), Spencer Long (knee) and Jon Feliciano (shoulder) were all among those sitting out.
Injuries along the line got even deeper on the day as well, as first cornerback EJ Gaines went off an injury and did not return and then tackle LaAdrian Waddle followed suit. Waddle was carted off, which could be bad news.
With that, here’s three more takeaways from Day 9 of Bills camp:
Oliver/ Ford effect
The Bills have had younger players playing big roles under Sean McDermott every season under him and that’s apparently going to continue. Buffalo’s top-two drafted rookies from the 2019 draft will likely be playing big roles, if Sunday’s practice was any indication of things to come.
First-rounder pick Ed Oliver has seen action with the starting defense, however, he hasn’t started a practice there. Sunday was the first practice that it was reported that Oliver started with the first-team defense over Jordan Phillips. McDermott appeared to take an approach that Oliver had to earn it, and he might’ve already. Oliver has had impressive plays often during camp.
The bigger Sunday news was with second-round pick Cody Ford. The rookie tackle has started plenty on the offensive line in practices, but all the prior mentioned players being injured caused the Bills to move him to guard for the first time. From left to right, the starting offensive line went as follows:
Dion Dawkins – Quinton Spain – Russell Bodine – Ford – Ty Nsekhe.
Following practice, Ford said he’s fine with the move.
“Wherever they tell me I’m playing that day for practice, that’s where I’ll play. I don’t ask questions. I just do what I’m told,” Ford said via WGR-550 radio’s report.
Not a good day for Allen
Second-year quarterback Josh Allen struggled once again with an interception problem that’s popped up during camp. In earlier practices, Allen’s had passes batted leading to interceptions but on Sunday one of the uglier ones reportedly took place as Allen took a shot down field to Isaiah McKenzie and the pass fell well short and led to a Jordan Poyer interception. The Athletic soon after reported that Allen was a brutal 2-for-7 passing with that pick.
Prior to practice, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott discussed Allen’s poor play as of late, specifically at the team’s practice in Orchard Park.
“There’s always good plays and bad plays. I liked his command of the huddle, ability to move us down the field. I thought overall we left a lot of plays on the field,” McDermott said.
Again!
This was a weird one and doesn’t happen too often at the professional level. If you’re looking for a way to gauge how the team’s entire practice went in one takeaway, here it is. It went bad.
The Bills did wind sprints back and forth on the field following practice. That doesn’t occur often for an NFL team, so McDermott & Co. really, really must not have liked what they were seeing from the team. Some assistant coaches were even running them.