Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘With Shakir, the coaches need to see as much of him in live situations as possible in the three preseason games because given his strong performance to date, he’s making a legitimate push to not only make the 53-man roster, but possibly be active on game day.’

‘“Not at all; I was not expecting it at all, it kind of came out of the blue and I was like, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” Gilliam said with a big smile after the Bills wrapped up a training camp practice at the blast furnace that was St. John Fisher University. “Obviously it offers a lot of security, but it also offers the fact that they believe in me. And I’m out to prove them right.”’

‘“It’s a half-filled heart because I’ve lost so many people,” Benford explained the other day following a practice at St. John Fisher University. “I lost my mom, some of my closest friends, best friends, some people that I call my sisters and my brothers. It’s like a part of my heart is gone.”’

‘The only reason I think Moss is going to make the team is because he still has two relatively inexpensive years left on his rookie contract. Duke Johnson was signed to a one-year deal, and he really hasn’t done anything to press Moss so the Bills might as well just keep Moss. Still, it would be nice to see Moss make something happen.’

‘“He continues to get better every year,” coach Sean McDermott said of Oliver. “His attention to detail, his approach year-round, I’ve seen that grow which is natural for a player in their developing years, years 2-3-4 in particular. I’ve seen him come into camp in shape and with a hungry attitude and approach on a daily basis.”’

‘A trainer was gingerly holding Poyer’s left arm as he walked him off the field where a cart was waiting to take him back to the locker room. Although the Bills would only say that Poyer is being further evaluated, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted that Poyer will undergo an MRI.’

‘With star cornerback Tre’Davious White still sidelined by knee surgery, Elam is taking first-team reps in practice and is regularly being tasked with covering Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis and once in a while Isaiah McKenzie. And if that’s not hard enough, he’s trying to defend passes thrown by Josh Allen.’

‘That’s because while Edmunds generally makes all the plays that he should make, it seems like only a handful of those are extraordinary, or game-altering, or the kind of plays that make your eyes bulge from your head.’

‘But it’s not like Araiza was a high draft choice. He still has to prove he’s the better punter, and it isn’t always about leg strength and yardage as he’s quickly finding out, first in OTAs and now in training camp. It’s also about hang time, and directional kicking in order to control the opponents’ return game.’

‘Again, no one is blocking at full speed, and defenders can’t tackle runners or receivers, but so far, the NFL’s No. 1 ranked defense in 2021 is making life difficult for the talented, Josh Allen-led offense.’

‘While the Bills don’t have anyone in Hill’s class who can turn short passes into explosive big gainers (maybe Tavon Austin can be that player if he makes the team), Josh Allen said there are definitely ways to give his receivers more opportunities to make more of those plays, and it starts with him.’

‘“Everything happens so fast, you kind of just take it one day at a time,” he said. “And you just fight like hell; you just do what you got to do, you do what the doctors tell you, you believe that you’re in the right hands and you’ve got the right care and you just go. I don’t know if I ever fully accepted it, I just was like, ‘Hey, this is my fight today and this is what you’ve got to do.’”’

‘“Of course I was familiar with Bruce Smith and Andre Reed and Jim Kelly and all those guys, Thurman Thomas,” Miller said. “But I didn’t really know exactly when it happened year to year to year to year.”’

‘“Drew and I have a great relationship, as do us and Jordan,” Beane said following the Bills’ first practice at St. John Fisher University. “Drew and I have many conversations. This just happened to work out for him to come up here and do this to start camp.”’

‘“You have to be able to learn from the situation,” Frazier said. “You have to be able to flush it and move on. If you don’t, then it carries over to the next season. You’ve got to be locked in on what can help us to be the best in 2022, and you’ve got to approach it that way. I think our guys are doing that. I think we’ve moved on from that.”’