Archives for July 25, 2003

‘"Right now as soon as Willis gets here that’s great. I’m not going to worry about it, nor am I going to talk about that. I’m going to coach the guys that are here. Willis has been working hard here from the time that we left on June 13. We’ve had our check-ups on what his progress has been. From the rehab part of it he’s doing fine."’

‘Chris Kelsay got laid out by Jonas Jennings on a reverse. Jonas hooted and hollered walking back to the other players by the water tanks, kicking his helmet with a playful arrogance as his teammates congratulated him.’

* Brandon Spoon is back and is strong. He played solid at middle LB.

* Everyone was hitting a lot harder today; contact was LOUD! At one point the coaches were blowing whistles and had to physically break in between Jonas Jennings and Grant Irons.

* Josh Reed – what can I say – call the carney this guy is an acrobat.

* Based on the number of reps he gets, I think the coaches are giving Travis Brown a chance to move up to #2 on the QB depth chart. AVP remains a strong backup from what I have seen. This is just my speculation.

Read more training camp reports on The Stadium Wall

‘While McKenzie, Denney and Kelsay should help in certain situations, Jones is the Bills’ best chance to hit the jackpot. If Jones can regain the form that saw him record 13 sacks for Tampa Bay in 2000, he could be the final piece that solidifies the front seven.’

‘"I’ve got a contract to work this year," he said after the morning workout at St. John Fisher College. "I’m pleased with that contract. I’m not going to change on how I coach and what I feel about the situation."’

‘Clearly, signing Williams to an extension would’ve made his future less of a powder keg issue heading into camp.’

‘” Physically there’s no problem. It’s the mental block, not being able to throw your arm out there to make a tackle,” said Spoon, who was in on 72 tackles, 46 unassisted, as a rookie. ” I haven’t thought about my arm since March.”‘

* Best player on the field – Josh Reed, who made 2 or 3 circus catches.

* Terrence McGee also had some nice coverage. On one corner route he got great inside position and broke up the pass but got yelled at for not getting the pick. In fact I didn’t see a pick all session, but did see one or 2 forced fumbles.

* On many passing plays, DEs (Irons & Denney especially) ended up way downfield and we assumed it was part of the zone blitz package.

* I saw Marcus Jones heading for the autograph tent near the end of practice and I yelled “How’s the knee, Marcus?!”

He looked up and said “Almost there, baby!”

* Starters in attendance: Bledsoe, Reed, Wire, Jennings, Williams, Jones

‘Nice concentration here by wide receiver Josh Reed, taking in the pass from backup Travis Brown…in traffic.’

‘"This is a great way to start camp, ya know. A little bit of rain. A little bit of the weather we’re going to have throughout the rest of the season. Our guys have to learn how to execute in this stuff. There’s not anybody that has to worry about heat problems or hydration problems today because it’s been just a nice light rain. We got through it. It was fun to see them get back together."’

‘Besides lengthy public service, Kemp played professional football for 13 years, quarterbacking the Buffalo Bills and the San Diego Chargers.’

‘Jones transformed his desire by focusing on his rehabilitation, which began in early January after he had surgery a second time when doctors discovered the bone and cartilage hadn’t healed properly. Taking only two one-week breaks since, Jones considers his knee fully healed and, overall, rates himself at being 85 to 90 percent ready to play.’

”’As soon as Willis gets here is great,” Williams said. ”But I’m not going to worry about that, nor am I going to talk about him. I’m going to coach the guys that are here. You want to talk about the guys that are here, I’ll talk about that.”’

Three new versions featuring August Training Camp Schedule