On what was a rainy day at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Buffalo Bills fell to 0-1 in the preseason, losing to the Indianapolis Colts by a final score of 19-18. Penalties were a big storyline throughout the game, which had been a big issue for the team last season as well. Bills head coach Rex Ryan said after the game that taking penalties needs to remain in the past with the rest of last season, and that the team needs to turn the page and move forward. There is no doubt that if the Bills cannot stay disciplined that they will slowly take themselves out of games throughout the year. It seems that ever since Rex arrived that nothing can dial down the penalties the team receives. Rex has even tried pushups like he did when he was the head coach of the New York Jets, as well as recently having the players run laps. Overall, it doesn’t seem to transition the team into remaining disciplined. If Rex wants to end the playoff drought, this is one issue that needs to be dealt with and dealt with fast.
There were a couple names that stood out in their 2016 preseason debuts. Fourth round pick and quarterback Cardale Jones made his debut wearing Bills colors and was impressive throwing the ball. One of the highlights of the night for him was his touchdown throw to wide receiver Jarrett Boykin at the end of the game. There were a few times when he overthrew the ball to players, but other than that the arm he had was pretty impressive, having a couple good deep throws. If the Bills can help Jones’ accuracy with his throws so that he can manage to consistently hit all of his targets, then the pickup of him will be considered successful and a potential steal in the 2016 draft.
Another name that was impressive today while he was out there, and someone who hasn’t gotten a lot of attention in the past is running back Mike Gillislee. The attention has been on LeSean McCoy, who is expected to remain the Bills’ number one running back; Karlos Williams, who had an impressive rookie season last year including at least one touchdown in his first six games in the NFL; and Reggie Bush, who was recently brought in due to Williams being suspended for the first four games of the season. With those names, it is understandable why Gillislee hasn’t been talked about as much. However, Gillislee is a speedy and shifty running back who can also make some pretty impressive plays, as he had done during the first 2016 preseason game. He was brought in by the Bills back in November of 2015, and had previously been on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad earlier that season before being released. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Bills found a way to keep him on the team in order to have some depth at the running back position.
While the Bills might not have had practice today, that didn’t stop the team from losing yet another player to injury. Linebacker IK Enemkpali got injured with what Rex described as a “major” knee injury. He was carted off of the field, but the extent of the injury is currently unknown. The linebacker core gets even smaller now with this injury. The Bills had previously lost linebackers Manny Lawson and Reggie Ragland to their own injuries, and while Rex is hoping that Lawson will be returning soon, he said that he isn’t ruling out bringing in another name as well. The Bills had done that already, adding former New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes, who already had played for the Bills before; and former New Orleans Saints linebacker David Hawthorne after Ragland went down with an injury. The Bills head back to camp again on Monday, and they play their next preseason game on Saturday against the New York Giants at 4:00.
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