Buffalo’s defense made enough plays to demonstrate that they’re catching on, and the offense continued to get in work on special situations on Sunday.
By John Murphy / Play-by-play/Host
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s a new defensive scheme, and it may be simpler. But it’s not easy. On Day 4 of Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College, presented by Connors & Ferris, the defense made enough plays to demonstrate that they’re catching on. And the offense continues to get in work on special situations at the start of practice.
1- SIMPLE, BUT NOT EASY
That was one of Hall of Fame Coach Marv Levy’s famous axioms-“What it takes to win is simple. But it’s not easy.”
It sounds like that’s the plan for Buffalo’s new 4-3 defensive scheme under coordinator Leslie Frazier. He says he’s scaled back the calls and checks for his on-field defenders to make. But that doesn’t make it easy.
“It’s important that they’re confident about what they’re doing and not in the middle of a play wondering what my assignment is,” Frazier said before Sunday morning’s practice. “We haven’t necessarily dumbed it down, but it’s not going to tax them hopefully mentally to the point where they’re not able to focus and go out and play the way they need to play.”
Linebacker Preston Brown, the man who will relay the defensive calls to his teammates on the field, agrees.
“It’s definitely not an easy defense, but it’s something that we all are grasping well and moving forward with each day,” Brown said after Sunday’s workout. “It starts with the play call-it’s only a couple of words instead of really long sentences like we were doing last year. There’s not as many checks.”
2- SIMPLICITY PAYS DIVIDENDS
Sunday was another good day for the Buffalo defense with several big plays turned in. Midway through practice, QB Nathan Peterman threw a high pass that was partially tipped and then picked off by safety B.T. Sanders, an undrafted rookie free agent from Nicholls State.
Later on, in a 7-on-7 session, rookie LB Matt Milano stepped in front of a T.J. Yatespass intended for another rookie, Jason Croom, and Milano picked it off. The fifth round pick showed good quickness and anticipation to get the ball, then had the determination to scoot up field with Croom trying to rake out the football.
Milano said after practice he was just doing his job in the defense that was called, man-to-man. And he said running to the football has been a priority in the training camp meeting rooms.
“We keep track in the meeting room of who’s running to the ball, and who’s not running to the ball. It’s a priority to get the ball,” according to Milano.
Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier says the Bills are trying to instill a takeaway mentality on defense.
“For us, the takeaway part of the game on defense is so important,” he said. “Trying to set our offense up to score or scoring on defense, so it’s something we are emphasizing every day. Just getting that mindset of taking the ball away.”
3- SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL
Right after stretch and individual work, the Bills have been scheduling one short practice period to work on special situations. On Sunday, they spent time schooling the offense on hurrying to the football and getting the ball snapped quickly, in case they have to “beat the clock.”
Quick snaps are critical when there’s a possible replay review coming or another questionable call on the field. The Bills spent about three minutes of practice time running a play, then getting the hurry up call from the coaching staff, then running to the line of scrimmage and getting the snap off as quickly as possible, all in an effort to thwart a potential replay challenge. Attention to detail.
BONUS NOTES
The Bills punting battle was on display early in the Sunday workout, with veteran Colton Schmidt and undrafted rookie Austin Rehkow taking turns booming the ball downfield, each with impressive hang time.
It was another strong day for free agent WR Rod Streater who has shown impressive athleticism and good hands in the first four days of camp. Streater went over the middle on a slant pattern to catch a perfectly thrown pass from T.J. Yates during one session of team work.
Seantrel Henderson got some first team reps at LT late in the workout and had some good moments in pass protection against Jerry Hughes. Rookie Dion Dawkins was on the other side at RT for a while with the first team.
DT Marcell Dareus was sidelined for a second day after tweaking his hamstring in Friday’s workout. Adolphus Washington got more work with the first team in place of Dareus.
There were no 11-on-11 snaps for CB Ronald Darby, who came up with a foot/ankle injury yesterday. Kevon Seymour continues to take Darby’s spot with the first team.
TE Charles Clay spent practice on the sideline as the Bills manage his reps.