The day started very early for me. Up at 6:30 to get some stuff done before leaving at 8:00am, and all for a very good reason..
The first day of Buffalo Bills Training Camp!!!
I brought my two boys with me, and we headed for the parking lot of Pittsford/Mendon High School where we would catch the shuttle bus to St. John Fisher College … and see the Bills!
All went as planned (aside from getting slightly lost on the way to the shuttling spot) and we had a beautiful day to take in the return of Buffalo Bills football. Seriously, it was so great to see all the familiar faces out on the field (it feels like you’re right there on the field with them at training camp) and it was great to see the new guys, too.
Just great to see NFL football.
A few thoughts from the first day before I hit the hay…
Offense
I can’t say enough how excited I am about James Hardy. I think this kid is going to be great for us – and even this year. He’s a quite a bit taller than his cohorts, and he runs good rounds, and from interviews I’ve seen, he’s definitely got the right attitude. Great pick up by the Bills.
Edwards looks poised and confident as always. JP has a loose cannon. First toss in the 7 on 7s was a huge bomb down the field (broken up nicely by Ashton Youboty.) I was a little disappointed with how Trent checked down nearly every time though… even in 7 on 7 drill with no pads.
I was impressed with the pace, though. They were running at a somewhat “hurry-up” pace. I do think Schonert is going to take this offense into a higher gear.
Defense
It was fantastic to see Marcus Stroud wearing Bills blue. And not only that, he was definitely a vocal leader of the DL unit. He seemed to be instructing our young guys, and they were listening. I did also notice that John McCargo was with the starting unit, next to Stroud, but found out later that’s because Kyle Williams was excused for the birth of a baby (he and his wife just had a baby) Williams will resume the starting role when he returns (though I think McCargo will challenge for that spot in camp.)
Will James intercepted JP Losman’s first 11 on 11 drill pass. Then Alvin Bowen tipped his second pass. And as I said earlier, Youboty made a great play on JP’s deep pass. JP may not have looked so hot (even bumped into Roscoe Parrish on a reverse handoff!!) but the new guys on defense did!
The atmosphere
Fans were excited to be there. There were just a couple thousand probably, but all who were there were ooo-ing and aah-ing with each play or missed play. Very into it. And, when the four preassigned players came to the autograph tent following practice, the crowd waiting to see them erupted in loud cheering! Too funny! We sure do love our Bills!
There was a new attraction at the kids interactive zone. It was a field goal kicking game. Seemed to be attracting more “big boys” than little boys. 🙂 My boys tried it of course, along with all the other fun interactive activities. Bills training camp is definitely a fun event all around – not just football.
Night Practices start next week. We’ll be in attendance next Thursday night. Can’t wait!
I took some photos today, will be posting them to our Facebook Page sometime this weekend.
For all the latest from training camp, definitely visit Chris Brown’s blog and the Multimedia page at BuffaloBills.com. They do a great job of covering everything!
Bills football is here!!!