Astrobot

I see Troup as having a monster year along with Blatnick. Factor in Carrington's increased playing time and production, Pettine's more aggressive system (had THREE players blitz from one side last night), and Mario/Kyle/Dareus being physically/mentally in a better place...Wow. Jay Ross could be on the bubble, but he's also had a good camp.

Just saw that Blatnick had 3 sacks, Unamba had the tip to Dangerfield, Nickell Robey had the PBU vs Goodwin

I read somewhere that 6 of the last 7 QBs drafted in the first round went on to start Game 1 of the regular season, and the 7th was in there by Game 6.

Yep! And having Goodwin (or Stevie or even Easley or Rogers) cross completely over the midline of the field, it makes it worse for safeties in Cover-2. Edit: Both of Goodwin's long gains last night were crossing routes. Bad things, man.

Turnovers will also be higher because we will stop the run better. Troup healthy. Solid backups in Jarron Gilbert and Jay Ross. Disruptors like Carrington, Blatnick, Dowtin, and Moats, not to mention our starters Williams and Williams.

But they're not selling Goodwin jerseys yet. He and Easley have impressed me more than Woods or TJ at camp. Yes, Goodwin has had slot work, as well as lining up directly behind another receiver, usually TJ Jarron Gilbert DT and rushbacker Blatnick are excellent. Branch gums up the middle but less effectively as Troup. The coach was yelling the most at Unamba, Searcy, Kip Edwards, and Dangerfield. The guy that could be a surprise keeper is TJ Heath. No.

Last night, Kolb>Manuel>Tuel. Kolb connected on 77% of his passes to EJ's 67%, and his INT was a tipped ball from camp fodder to camp fodder. His TD pass to Goodwin was extremely accurate, as were several of his completions, and he looked off defenders moreso than EJ. I want to see Kolb with our ones against Vikes' ones before I make judgments. BTW, Tuel looked every bit the third stringer last night against Pettine's defense. They unleashed the dogs last night, and it wasn't pretty. Tuel was 40% completion.

Troup is 98 and Gilbert is 96. I agree; Gilbert played very well last night as well, and I watched slow-mo of the running plays to see what was going on. Gilbert was helpful in stopping the run. Branch not so much.

LOL The koala eats shoots and leaves. vs The koala eats, shoots, and leaves.

Kolb had a wonderful night at camp last night, connecting on 77% of his passes. They were right on the money. His INT was a tipped ball, and he matched EJ's TD pass to Goodwin with a TD pass to Goodwin. He's earned the look. Besides, I'd like EJ to gain confidence and rhythm against their 2's.

Bills Daily ‏@billsdaily1h Alonso and Stevie Johnson will not play Friday. Alonso cleared to play but being cautious. Stevie likely back for Washington week. Steve Vesey ‏@SteveVesey4 1h Kiko Alonso will not play Friday. Medically cleared, but Marrone being careful. "Kiko Alonso is dealing with a minor shoulder ailment, and the team’s medical staff has cleared him to play Friday night, but he won’t be per the orders of head coach Doug Marrone. “Kiko Alonso didn’t practice today,” said Marrone. ”He’s cleared by the trainers, the coaches wanted him out there I’m resting him. I’m going to hold him out for a couple of days to make sure we get him back. I don’t plan on him playing.” Marrone’s reasoning is Alonso has had among the most reps of any player in the training camp setting. That kind of player load can make the middle linebacker more susceptible to injury, so Marrone chose to shut him down for a few days." http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2013/08/14/kiko-to-be-held-out-of-fridays-game/

Elliott's back and catching with the WR's, just to make the cuts harder. Hairston and Keith Williams are still wearing their Bills caps and doing lots of walking. I don't notice limps on either. Stevie is fine; you probably saw his Google glasses on the website. People behind me in the jam-packed stands are wondering where the term "Bills" come from. A guy (who should lose his man card) said, "Maybe it's a female bison". The WR's are doing curl-ins, and I gotta say, Sampson is so smooth, he's like butter. Marquise drops one but makes up for it later. Stay tuned. There is a running back with the running backs dressed in Bills regalia, and he's laughing with the RBs. In 7 on 7's, Period 6, the 3 QBs took turns for faster work. ----Set 1: EJ sees nobody open and takes off running. Kolb throws the under route to Freddie, and Tuel makes the longest throw to Chandler. Winner: Tuel. ----Set 2: EJ throws long to Dickerson for 15 yds., Kolb throws to Marcus Easley for a TD, Tuel throws out --to the flat to CJ. Winner: Kolb. ----Set 3: EJ throws long to Kevin Elliott and you know Elliott's back for sure. Kolb sees nothing and takes off, Tuel throws the under to Summers the FB. Winner: EJ. ----Set 4: EJ throws a beautiful ball to Gaskins that's right on the money. Kolb throws a snappy pass to Sampson, though not as long a gainer as EJ's. Tuel throws it in the dirt. Winner: EJ. Period 7 is your first 11 on 11... ----Kolb throws long to Marquise Goodwin, but it's well defended by Nickell Robey, incomplete. Hands off to CJ for a modest gain. Then CJ around end for a better gain. ----Tuel throws to CJ but for no gain. He does an end-around to Woods that looks rough, needs more work. He then throws wide to Goodwin for incompletion out of bounds. ----EJ is practicing handoffs (big surprise after Colts game). Hands off to FB, LAwson engulfs him. 2 more handoffs to the RB, then a pass on the flat to Goodwin. Two more runs and a Moats sack. Winner: Kolb. Period 8 is a duel for kicker. The best part of this is Lindell making a 45, 48, then Hopkins making a 50 and 51 yarder. Lindell tries from 52 and misses, and re-kicks and makes it. Hopkins comes in on the "fire drill" (ten seconds), and drills a 52 yarder, whereupon Lindell matches him on the fire drill from 52. Period 9 is kick return drills, and Marquise and Easley are both doing well. Marquise is going 90% speed tonight, Easley maybe 80% speed. Both are getting great blocks. Period 10 and 11 are 11 on 11's. I kept track of completions as follows: ----EJ was 2 for 3, then 1 for 3, then 2 for 2, then 5 for 7. Total 10 for 15. 66% ----Kolb was 1 for 3, 2 for 4, and 4 for 4, Total 7 for 11. 77% ----Tuel was 3 for 4, 0 for 2, and 1 for 4. Total: 4 for 10. 40% Highlights of each QB's play: ----EJ had a PBU by Duke Williams on a pass to Chandler, a PBU by Don Unamba on Hogan that surprisingly didn't draw a flag (ref was right there), a long pass dropped by Hogan (his 2nd drop of training camp), a sack by Moats, a touchdown by Marquise Goodwin (tied for the Play of the Night), and an INT by Gilmore (his daily INT, it seems). ----Kolb had a diving catch by Brad Smith at the first down stick, PBUs by Bradham, an over throw to Da'Rick, tipped ball by Unamba which was run back by Dangerfield, great completion to Kaufman, Hogan, and Lee Smith, and a TD to Marquise Goodwin. He led Goodwin perfectly and tied for the Play of the Night. ----Tuel was sacked by Blatnick, INT by Aaron Williams, PBU by Mana Silva, fumbled the ball as he went back to pass, and missed Sampson. He looked extremely third string tonight. After everyone has seen the Colts and Vikings game, I will ask for your Positional Needs and submit them to DraftTek. I will suggest that WR won't be one of them. ~~~Astro

Lee Smith is catching the ball and is a better blocker. Gragg is a faster Caussin without the injuries. And Chandler made it through his injury with no permanent damage.

My notes on Tuel pre-draft: broken collarbone in 1st gm 2011, came back midseason, reinjured, inj dropped him here. good athlete good arm, good acc, best year as soph: 2,780 yds and 18 TD. Won Casino Bowl. I had him ranked UDFA #407. Full disclosure, I had Meeks at #400 LOL

Yes! I remember saying at the time, well, there's Hogan's only drop of the summer.

The #Bills game against the #Vikings Friday is blacked out in #WNY #billscamp

Manuel is making 3rd reads now against our first-string starters who are an unpredictable Mike Pettine defense. If you haven't already, read my notes about today's practice.

Today, standing on his own 25, Powell landed punt on the opposing 2 and on the 4 with Da'Rick Rogers' and Ron Brooks' help. That's 25+50-2 (73 yards) and 25+50-4 (71 yards).

OL or Bart Scott?

More notes from Ryan Talbot: http://queencitysports.net/buffalo-bills-training-camp-notes-for-august-13th/ yep. That's what they called it in the middle ages when I was a blocking back, but I like square-in better. A T would have you going in two directions. What the L?

It's a ball-me 72 degrees, and the bleachers are wet from the rain last night. Muggy. I'm back in the saddle after asthma symptoms took me out. Thanks to all for your thoughts and messages. I sweep the water before sitting down and look around me. I'm sitting right in front of Chris Brown and Mark Ludzwiak (sp). Asked about Donnie Henderson's whistling from the sidelines: It's a break and Stevie, Graham, and Sinkfield are chatting it up on the sidelines. Stevie seems pretty inclusive. Later on, Stevie's tossing the football around with Graham and Brad Smith. Woods is on one knee as is Sinkfield. After some punt practice (which Powell won on distance, Stahovich won on consistency--now think it's Powell's position to lose), 7 on 7 begins and Kolb's first up. He's throwing under-routes to Freddy and Tashard Choice. Choice misses one he shouldv'e had. Donnie Henderson is chewing out Umamba for not using the sideline to steer the WR toward. Henderson later chews out Searcy for the same thing. EJ's up on 7 on 7, and he throws too high to Chris Gragg and he's unable to catch it. Chris Brown said, "That's on both of them, I think." Tuel throws deep to Brandon Kaufman right on the money and it's a nice catch, likely in the 30-yard range. Tuel throws an under route to Choice, who catches this one for +15. Tuel takes off running on the next one. EJ throws an under route to Zach Brown, then to Woods for a nice 15 yard gain. Kolb puts it right where it had to be to Scott Chandler and away from the defender. Kolb comes right back to Chandler on a drag route. If Kolb's the starter, put Chandler on your fantasy team. Tuel takes off on a QB keeper (EJ's better than Jeff, but they're both pretty quick), then on the next play Tuel overthrows DeMarco Sampson by a step and a half. Goodwin gets that one for a TD. Period 11 is 11 on 11 (the first string line is in, with Cordy, ColinBrown, Wood, Urbik, Pears) and Tuel is up first. In part due to Carrington's pressure, Kyle Williams gets in on Tuel and they force a QBH. Tuel unleashes a 25 yarder in the air to Goodwin and I want me a Flash Goodwin jersey. Kolb throws an out to Fred Jackson, does his QB keeper play, Kolb throws to Drew Smith who drops it and I hear disgust from Chris Brown and Ludzwiak. I can tell they don't like Drew Smith either. Pough sacks Kolb on his last play. CB says that Kolb looks better than Monday's practice; I'll take his word for it. So far, things just aren't going Kolb's way. EJ's up and he's decisive about his reads, throwing the out on the right flat to CJ. A handoff up the middle goes nowhere; we are seeing stout DT play (BTW, Troup's in) in combination with he inability of our inside Guards to be road graders. This will be evident later in practice on 3rd-and-1 drills and goal-to-go drills, where 4 attempts will net 3 yards--even with Frank Summers, who is cut like a fire hydrant with guns. Hope somebody took Summers' picture at the end of practice because Summers took his jersey off and makes Bradham look like Olive Oyl. EJ connects with Hogan, who Hackett says is 7-11 because he's "always open". EJ also connects with DeMarco Sampson for a sweet 20-yard gainer. He's this year's Practice Squad gem. I count the seconds for three plays; they go off at 15 seconds apiece. I make that observation to Chris Brown. I'm sure he was jealous or wants to hire me and can't find the words. Period 12 is a break, and it's clouding over. Period 13 is punting again. Powell's punts from his own 40 land on the 5 and bound in (Goodwin unable to get it), into the end zone too fast, landing on the 2 (Da'Rick Rogers keeps it in play, and Ron Brooks makes a similar play on the next one. The last one is fair-caught by McKelvin at his 11. Period 14 is more 11-on-11, and EJ is up first. He throws a nice one to the sidelines to Marquise, and Rolle makes the stop. Now it's the Chris "7-11" Hogan show. EJ throws him a rope for 20+ yards, then Hogan goes over the middle on a T-in from the left wideout spot, then Hogan lines up behind Kaufman, and the defense thinks they're ready, cheating over to that left side. EJ looks their way, looks right, but keeps it and goes right for 10-15 yards. Chris Brown said, "That was his 3rd read! That was his 3rd read!" Kolb is in, and he delivers a long-distance "don't count me out yet" pass to Da'Rick from 30 yard line to the other. We'll make that our Play of the Day. Freddy runs off LG for not much. Jordan Dangerfield can't get any respect; he's yelled at by Donnie Henderson about where he's lined up. Jumal Rolle tackles DeMarco Sampson for very little YAC. Kolb overthrows DeMarco on the next play but there's a flag on the OL. Kolb is consistently inconsistent. Tuel's chance, but setting up takes too long and there's another flag on the offense, this one for delay of game--the first one all summer. Tuel throws to Woods over the middle but the best pass break-up of the day is put in by Ron Brooks getting his arm in there. Brooks then waves to Woods, like, "Welcome to the NFL, rook". The second-biggest scare of the day was right here, when Goodwin hobbles off the field almost like a sprained ankle, and lies down, but 3 minutes later he's up standing on the sidelines, fine. The other great play of the day was Marcus Easley and Bryan Scott both going up for a jump ball, with Easley catching it, Scott taking it, and Easley wrestling it back as he comes down hard on his back. Neither are hurt, except maybe Scott's pride. Tuel then hits Gragg on a "slant-in, catch, and go vertical" pattern that will be our bread and butter this year. Aaron Williams blitzes on the next 2 plays. On the first, Tuel is hurried, and Searcy makes a nice play on the ball. On the second blitz, Mario and Moats meet at the QB, and Aaron comes to the sidelines and lies down. Trainer works on him for quite a while. (hamstring, maybe?) http://www.wham1180.com/photos/buffalo-bills/buffalo-bills-training-camp-813-363370/21376122/#/8/21376351 Period 15 is 3rd and 1 drill. Frank Summers tries 4 times to gain the one yard and it's a sea of blue. Kyle Williams moved his man the most (likely a LG, likely Colin Brown). Caldwell looks like he's limping after one of those, so it could have been him, too. We look stout on defense. Period 16 is first and goal from the 3. EJ is in, and Searcy trips Thomas Welch, and Welch goes off limping. Not sure, but I think he was tackle-eligible, and Searcy was caught out of position. CJ gets the handoff, fakes into the middle and bounces it outside for the TD. On the third opportunity from the 3, both Drew Smith and Frank Summers were in there, and they had trouble. I'm not sure Summers will make the 53, but Drew Smith won't.

Didn't you mean SECOND string QB?

You are welcome. I will be at practice today, so I dunno if I will get to writing up the second half of the game...we'll see. Yeah, Bill B called and wants more details!

DEFENSE 1: Hopkins kick left no return yards. The Gilmore hit set the tone. Carrington Dareus Williams Williams is likely your starting front four. Alonso penetration cause 2 downs to blow up in the Colts' faces. Brooks tackled instantly on the reception. Penetration by Alonso forced the early throw on 3rd down. Woods dropped the punt; doesn't he want to be on this team? jk... Goodwin is one o the stars of the game, but his dumb hit out of bounds led to a poor drive start. OFFENSE 1: Glenn-Brown-Wood-Urbik-Pears is good, not great. Leave it to bounce it out twice for 32 yards total. Loved seeing the TJ Graham block on the first, and Summers' lead block on the second CJ run. The play action play only works if you pass for a while--Terrible screen, and Colin Brown's block sucked. Hilton made a great PR for a good drive start. DEFENSE 2: Andrew Luck bootlegged, Fleener is tackled by Searcy. I'm biting sections of the couch. Mario gets a sack b/c he's single teamed by the slowest guy on their line, Castonzo. Should stick to Seinfeld. Bradham's hit was solid, but Brooks' taunt nets a flag, and now it's first down. Colts' false start (their FB) nets us the penalty yardage right back. Aaron Williams successfully defends a pass play, no catch...Searcy allows a reception, but the fumble forced by Brooks is recovered by the swarming Bills. OFFENSE 2: Spiller's getting about 4 yards per carry off the left side. The handoff between EJ and CJ is botched (I blame Summers for getting in the way). Brooks almost INT's Darrius Heyward Bey on the first play from Hasselbeck. DEFENSE 3: Alonso shows excellent and quick diagnostic skills on the stop up the middle trap that the Colts run on Hughes. I want TY Hilton on our side; what a great sideline reception vs Gilmore! Hughes stops the run, and Alonso knocks ball out from Fleener, and I think we're in good shape, but Illegal procedure vs Hughes extends the possession. Aaron Williams vs Brown results in a pass breakup, and Colts must settle for FG. Indy 3-0. OFFENSE 3: Marquise Goodwin's first KR only goes for 53 yards--what a putz! jk... If you watch, he follows Summers' block through the crowd and he kicks it in gear. Now I'm wondering if they keep Summers and put Gaskins on PS, or waive him altogether. The pass to TE is incomplete, then EJ goes through 2 progressions (Watch the replay) and scrambles 29 yards. No slide at the end; he'll hear from Marrone on that. TJ Graham hauls in a sweet timing pass to advance to the 13. This is huge because TJ had to have great focus as a player occludes his vision almost at the last minute. Pears is called for a false start, the second score-affecting play of the game. Fred Jackson moves 9 yards on a screen, FJ is held by our very own Kelvin Sheppard, and a pass is broken up by the defender's upward movement on FJ. EJ's pass is a little behind (he doesn't lead him and while I've seen Stevie make amazing catches, Hogan's not Stevie). Hopkins FG from the 24, and the score is tied, 3-3. DEFENSE 4: After a 28 yard KR, Manny Lawson shows why he's here. He hits the RB immediately for a 1 yard net. RB redeems himself on the next play, though, and I'm not sure this is Alonso losing him as Bentley says. Troup and Bradham bring down RB, and I'm feeling encouraged, but then TY Hilton (did I mention we need this guy?) makes the TD covered by Brooks. Brooks was caught looking on the play fake, and Hilton's too fast. I move second CB up to P1 on the DraftTek Positional Needs. Colts 10-3. OFFENSE 4: Goodwin gets a grounder for the touchback..do they already have respect for our new returner? CJ goes for no gain off RG. That's RG. Robert Woods makes his first NFL catch (now he had to dive for it, but it counts nonetheless) and it's now 3rd and 2. EJ makes his second pass that's behind the receiver (Hogan) because he aimed it rather than throwing it. I call up Hackett and ask him to tell EJ to just gun it in there, maybe to Dickerson over the middle. The punt was out of bounds, giving the Colts a drive start at the 40. DEFENSE 5: Pettine scales it up and Lawson has his 2nd brilliant play, a TFL for a 1 yd loss. Lawson follows up with his third brilliant play--he tips it at the line, resulting in INT#1 by Crezdon Butler. OFFENSE 5: Manuel hands off to Choice, and it results in little gain. He throws to Gragg for seven, which might have been his only catch(?). EJ throws the next ball like a dart, which Hogan does a good job of catching anyway and slides for the first down. I call up Hackett again and ask him to tell EJ to just gun it in there, maybe to Dickerson over the middle. Meanwhile Choice runs for 4 off RG. That's RG. Great line play here as EJ hands off inside to Choice. The Colts stop the pace as Hickman is injured. Belichick writes that down. Choice's next run is short by 1 yard. EJ runs to his right (maybe play-action would have worked here, or bootleg) and throws out of bounds as the receivers are covered--or are they? Look and see the receiver trailing who's wide open. It wouldn't have been an awful throw across EJ's body, but you have to give the rookie credit for not forcing it. FG by Hopkins, 10-6 DEFENSE 5: Hopkins' line drive bounces out of bounds, penalty takeover at 40. Meeks is in on the tackle on the RB. For a small guy he sure mixes it up. Butler covers Sampson, and the ball's thrown out of bounds. Scott had the QB dead to rights and I don't know how he let him go. Challenge the spot? No, Marrone didn't (we'll find out why). Hughes was caught on a misdirection, covering the drag route. Crezdon Butler showing awareness. Robey on the stop after 4 yds. Bentley calls Nickell "nickel" and it just gets funnnier. The great pressure by Blatnick forces incompletion. Dunno why he was left unblocked. Third down and 6, a great def play by Crezdon Butler getting tomahawk on arm, sets up FG from 44. Vinateri is money. 13-6, Colts. OFFENSE 6: 107 yd TD return by Goodwin! I worried when Meeks almost interferes from behind. 13-13 tie. DaRick, Lawson, and EJ offer Marquise congratulations. That has to be a record, at least preseason. 20-13, Bills. DEFENSE 6: DeMArco Sampson and Ron Brooks are first in there on the KR. I'm thinking, "Sampson will make this club on ST". Moats makes a solid stop on their RB. Jerry Hughes has the QB dead to rights, and he makes the tackle. A player for the Bills is having difficulty shedding blocks, but I couldn't read the jersey number. Duke Williams is beat covering on a 17 yd pass play. Hughes bats a pass down, getting out in space on his side. He's enigmatic, making great plays and some bonehead plays. Nickell ("nickel"--I'm cracking up) defends a pass. There are only 10 men on the field for the next play, but Colts call time out. Third and 2, Corbin Bryant and Alan Branch gum up the middle, and Meeks almost gets INT #1, but the completion made for first down. Shout out to TJ Heath who becomes untaped from the goalpost and makes a tackle, but holding (caused by Jay Ross The Animal) backs up the Colts, and Heath's tackle won't show on the stats. First and 20, and Butler, Jarron Gilbert, and Ross make a combo play on the screen. Meeks almost gets INT#2 as Bryant, Branch, and Hughes cause Harnish to flush out of the pocket. Nickell misses a tackle. Blatnick makes his tackle with help from TJ Heath and Troup. This forces punt on 4th and 17. Woods doesn't return it and ball falls at 5 OFFENSE 7: Ej passes out on the flat to Woods, then signals his Radio went out. Great trick when you want to freestyle! EJ to Lee Smith (who's a TE who never was thrown the ball, known only for his blocking). A Colts late hit on Smith moves the ball to the 32. EJ dumps it off to Choice for 5, and they're now at the 37 with 1:13 left. EJ goes right back to Woods on an inside slant and calls time out. 1:08 on the clock and the ball's on the 45. EJ picks up the first down, and there are still 2 timeouts. EJ goes over the middle to Dickerson, then calls a timeout. The ball's on the 33. Showing mature ball management, EJ throws it out of bounds, but holding on our old friend Kelvin Sheppard puts the ball on the 30. :29 to go, Woods catches another EJ pass and makes beeline to the sideline, saving a timeout. We're on the 18 yard line with :24 to go. A Choice dump-off nets no gain, but uses 5 seconds of clock. I get nervous. I call up Hackett again and ask him to tell EJ to just gun it in there, maybe to Dickerson over the middle. EJ finds Scorin' Dorin Dickerson for the 18 yard TD down the middle,. A Hopkins XP finishes off a 95-yard drive, 27-13, Bills. On the ensuing kickoff with :09, Brian Smith tackles the KR inside the 10 and then a kneel down ends the half. ........Game Balls, First Half............. 1. 50, 107 yard returns by Goodwin 2. Kiko Alonso 3. Brooks hit with Searcy pickup of fumble 4. Manuel making no stupid plays on a 2 minute drill ........ Astro

I am SO grateful you did this. I was down and out with asthmatic symptoms. You rocked those Comments! Merci! --Astro