The Buffalo Bills met on Wednesday for day two of their offseason volunteer minicamp program. The big story of the day was Jerry Hughes and how he was pulled from practice, but for reasons you may not think.
Head coach Rex Ryan pulled Hughes because he had five or six sacks early on throughout the day. Hughes, who signed a five-year, $45 million contract extension this offseason was just having an unbelievable day.
“I am really happy we signed Jerry Hughes back,” said Ryan. “I literally, it’s rare that you have to pull a guy from practice because he is ruining your practice. I had to pull him today. If we were keeping track, he might have had five or six sacks. So it’s one of those deals where it’s like, let’s pull him out and get a pass off or something like that. But he really did have that kind of day today.”
In 2014, Hughes registered 9.5 sacks after recording 10 sacks in 2013. Ryan believes Hughes is versatile and plays bigger than his stature.
“You can put him anywhere too, said Ryan. “He’s like 255 or something, but he plays much bigger. He can play as an end and he can play as an outside backer. He’s definitely a physical player. He’s a good athlete. Your great pass rushers have a feel for it. When to go inside, when to set up guys and all of that. He has it. He is kind of like a starting pitcher with about four or five pitches. He’s one of those nightmares to go up against.”
Three Way Quarterback Battle
Others news coming out of Bills camp is their three-way quarterback competition between, Matt Cassel, EJ Manuel and Tyrod Taylor.
Ryan has made it clear that the Bills do not have a clear-cut starter going into this summer’s training camp. All three quarterbacks are learning new offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s system, so they understand it is a process.
“It is obviously April and everybody is learning each other,” said Cassel. “We are getting familiar with one another. Personnel, terminology and everything else. We have had a good first two days. The guys have come out and competed really well. The practice tempo has been upbeat and everybody has been moving around. I would say it has been a great first two days, but we have to know that it is a process.”
After being selected in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Manuel has been a disappointment for the Bills. In two seasons, Manuel has thrown for 2,810 yards, 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Cassel is a seasoned veteran, so he may be the slight favorite to win the job. Taylor has a lot of big-play potential, but he isn’t a proven player.
Bryce Petty Met With Bills
On Tuesday night, former Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty revealed in a radio interview that he met with members of the Bills organization. Buffalo’s first draft pick will be the 50th overall pick in the second round. Petty is universally viewed as a second or a third round pick, so it is possible the Bills could be targeting the 23-year-old.
On Wednesday, Ryan spoke briefly about the Bills meeting with Petty.
“I guess he let the cat out of the bag, we were there. I was not there. We were there. We had good meetings with him and things like that, but I was not obviously present at the meetings.”
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