I believe that the single most important day in camp is first day practice with pads on.

Watch how graded stakes horses embrace a saddle in a stall before a race. A horse knows what that saddle means; 1-2 minutes of physically grueling punishment. If a horse is not prepared, it will shy away. If it's ready to run it will be calm and eventually be bouncing on it's toes.

When the pads go on the first day of NFL camp the players know what lies ahead; a punishing camp, pre-season, and a 16 game schedule to qualify for the playoffs; a right to vie for the Super Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills response today?

"Bring it on!"

Overall, very impressed with the depth and quality of the team. The offense had the better of the defense, with the DL being the only concern.

Getting to camp: The Bills have replaced the shuttle buses with yellow school buses; I thought these buses were here to pick up disoriented Patriots fans but later realized that the "Bills MONEY Machine" needs to be greased more often then not. Paid my Dolla and good to go.

Took my spot along the fence and I was surprised to see NFL commissioner Roger Goodel walk by. When he got close I yelled "good job Roger on Favre". He raised his hand in a "Hello / Thank you / Shhhhhhh" sequence and walked by.

Later Bills' owner Ralph Wilson was being driven on his golf cart out of the field area by
us and I pointed my finger right at him and yelled "Wilson you ROCK!" and then gave him the thumbs up. Ralph Wilson smiled in a "Thank you / Where is my security when I need them" look.

Later Bills COO Russ Brandon walked briskly by us. Russ say "Hi", we don't hate you man!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I don't take pictures and I don't take notes. I scan the field for plays that catch my eye. I have a list of players that I project to be starters, then backups, and potential impact rookies or second year players (last year 35 out of 80 players in that group).

If a player outside that "group" makes a play, then I check the list and make a mental note. This year my list consisted of 53 players in that "group" and the players outside of the "perimeter" players made so many plays I gave up trying to track them all.

This training camp was far more difficult in observing because of the quality and depth of this Bills team. I am not 100% accurate because of simultaneous events and If if I was pinned to a specific question on a event, I would give you a Coach Jauron answer "I have to look at the tapes".

The Bills overall team progress is great for Bills fans but a pain for those watching the practices!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Camp started and I was surprised to see the Bills leave their pads on the sideline. They just ran continuous running plays, over and over, 11 vs. 11. QB's rotated with each group and then finished with warm-ups.

They split up with the Punt returners on our end and they had to catch the punts with a football already in one hand. CB McKelvin was very smooth and caught two in a row; impressive!

On with the pads!

WR's were throw over the shoulder passes and all did very well. What struck me the most about watching the the WR's was how Lee Evans "glides" across the field and the rest of the WR's run. Lee Evans is always one of the top 2-3 players that set the example for off season performance. Evans deserves every penny that he gets from the Bills!

What impressed me about the Bills training camp was how physical they were all day. You had the "LBs vs RBs/TE" and "DL vs OL". The winner had to make contact with a coach or object as a "sack". Poz used his speed rather then his strength to get around a couple of times. Crowell was like a pitbull and LB DiGiorgio made it seem like a piece of cake.

They had also three-on-two (like a screen with the ball carrier a WR or RB) and the defensive players had to shake their blocks and tackle the runner. Great and entertaining and RB Wright (he impressed today) really gave OL Chambers (good day) a really good smack.

There was some six-on-seven, seven vs. seven, and 11 vs. 11 match-ups that created some nice plays by alot of players.

Latter in the practice the Bills went 11 vs. 11 and they went with about 15 straight
running plays (QB's, CBs, and WRs were running drills at the other end). LB Mitchell once got in the backfield to break up a pass for Lynch from Edwards so fast that I thought Mitchell was part of the offense play.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?