The Bills were fortunate enough to have TE Shawn Nelson, OG Kirk Chambers and DT John McCargo return to the practice field on Monday. All three played relatively well on the day; we'll have more on Nelson's day in a moment. Leodis McKelvin, Steve Johnson, Copeland Bryan and Marcus Smith remain sidelined with their respective injuries (in McKelvin's case, a tight hamstring). Johnson told Matt that he'd be ready to return to the field later this week. Butler's back injury will be monitored, and was the only significant injury on the day.
Shawn Nelson returned to the practice field after missing several days with a minor foot injury, and Buffalo's coaches wasted no time working him back up to speed. Nelson spent a lot of time with the first unit on Monday, particularly in pass sets, and looked great - his blocking is slowly coming along, and he caught several balls, including a long touchdown pass down the left sideline from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Lets hope Nelson can usurp the other mediocrities on the team and become the full time starter at tightend. Likely he'll split time and mostly used in the passing game, assuming he can strengthen his route running. Remember he was a fourth round pick and Hardy last year was a second round selection. Honestly I'm expecting next to nothing this year from SN unfortunately.
Demetrius Bell Watch, when Butler went down, it was Chambers who replaced him at right tackle. He's nowhere near ready for significant playing time. Buffalo's coaches realize that, and we should too. Andy Levitre took nearly ever first-team snap at left guard, and every snap when Chambers took over at right tackle. Eric Wood is clearly ahead of Seth McKinney at right guard.
This o-line needs to gel ASAP. God I wish Wood would just be a Center. Rotating him at guard and center isn't a terrible idea as versatility would certainly benefit him and the team but he is a center by trade. If Butler's injury is anything close to serious it could put a major hole in his chances of starting at RT week one. Chambers concentrating at RT might be a plus any way.
It's also worth noting that the Bills practiced rushing against a 3-4 defensive look. Marcus Stroud, Kyle Williams and Spencer Johnson made up the front three, and the line blocked the look well. Expect to see that more as the team slowly begins gearing up for their AFC East foes this season.
This almost sounds like a really good idea, from this coaching staff?!??!
With McKelvin on the sideline and Drayton Florence still working in the slot, Reggie Corner replaced McKelvin opposite Terrence McGee. We feel confident that Florence would have lined up outside in a traditional 4-3 set (i.e. no nickel), but the Corner "promotion" is significant in that he got the call over Ashton Youboty. For now, at least, Corner appears to be ahead of Youboty on the depth chart.
Nic Harris worked as the second-team strong-side linebacker. His chances of unseating Keith Ellison for the starting role there, however, are small; Ellison has actually looked pretty good in camp.
Not good news for Youboty, and anything positive about Ellison is terrible news. His ceiling is shorter than Coast and he is a middle of the road albatross at best. Step yo game up Nic.
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