Many Bills fans are hoping that they manage to see signs of hope when they see their favorite players step out onto the field of St. John Fisher College. Some hope that training camp will provide answers to questions that they’ve had in the back of their heads ever since the 2015 season ended. While training camp can show signs of things to come, it shouldn’t make fans nervous if things don’t look like they’re going the right way. Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman stepped to the podium on Tuesday and emphasized this idea.
“Guys, training camp, it’s a process,” explained Roman. “It’s a process of constant improvement. Learning, teaching, getting on the same page, and getting ourselves physically ready. Really like how our guys on offense are attacking every day and getting on the same page…So as we move through training camp, competition is hot and heavy. We’re looking for guys at this point to take advantage of opportunities. Some days you might get eight throws, and some days you might get none. Just so you know, if you don’t show up on the stat sheet, we grade everything these guys do. We don’t hold it against them if opportunities don’t come their way. We’re still evaluating them based on opportunities that they have.” The Bills certainly improved having wide receiver Sammy Watkins out there after being out with a broken leg the past few months. He wasn’t out there on Tuesday, but head coach Rex Ryan said that he is okay, and that it was a scheduled day off.
“We did have Sammy Watkins, you might have noticed, he wasn’t out there today but that was just a scheduled day off, so to speak, out of football,” Rex said. “And we have like a whole thing. As he transitions in the plan, we have a whole program set up for him, so nothing to be alarmed with there.” As for Roman, he knows how much of an impact something like having Watkins out there has on the entire team, but also that there are other steps that need to be taken before he is 100% and ready to go.
“I mean, you know, Sammy is a special player,” Roman said. “He’s in his third year. We got to get him physically right. He’s been totally and mentally engaged in everything we do. There’s some chemistry now that we get to build, and that’s big time. Understanding body language, you know, a flick of the eye. You know, the hand going up. All those little body language things and timing things that need to take place to play at that kind of high level.” Sammy agrees in that he feels like his old self, but that there are still things he needs to work on.
“Yeah. I got the basic stuff, now it’s just trying to be as smooth as I can, trying to be explosive, trying to be powerful,” said Watkins. “And just trying to do everything the right way and not trying to take off on the injury. I’m pretty much clear now.”
On the injury front, Rex says that there were no updates on linebacker Reggie Ragland, left tackle Cordy Glenn, or cornerback Corey White. While Glenn hasn’t been ruled out for Saturday’s preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts, it is probable that he ends up missing that game with an ankle injury. Offensive tackle Richie Incognito also missed practice, and while Rex says that he told him he would be back in a couple days, it is an uncomfortable injury and that the doctors would determine when he would be able to go out there. Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus also touched base as to why he had missed a little bit of time.
“I just had to recover a little, I had some things I had to take care of,” explained Dareus. “At the same time, I wanted to make sure I was ready to go. There’s no rush, let’s get together, just kind of stay focused, stay inside the playbooks and be on top the game when we get going.”
