As a Bills fan, the best thing about watching training camp is that the Bills are successful on every play - without exception. If a running back is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, the defence was all over it and if a deep pass goes for a touchdown, the offence looks strong. So, it's really quite relaxing knowing that success will truly come with every snap.
We stepped off the shuttle bus at St. John Fisher College at about 2.30pm yesterday, giving us a half hour to peruse Bills branded merchandise before the 3pm practice start. No one drunk or drinking at all - at least not that I saw. So, I got my fix of new Bills swag (including a Mario Williams shirt) and we settled comfortably in the stands beside the grass practice field at about the 30 yard line and about 12 rows from the field - just about where my actual Ralph Wilson stadium seats are.
An NFL training camp practice when a team is still carrying over 80 players is an exercise in logistics, choreography and organization. Warm up drills come first and are not really worth watching but by 3.15, the quarterbacks were throwing into rotating one on one receiver/cornerback drills which then added a second one on one match-up for a while before they grew to 7 on 7 drills. Then, finally the 11 on 11 plays with some special teams formats thrown in as well. Players rotate in and out of the action and the pace is fast. It was not until the 11 on 11 that any running plays were executed at all. The quarterbacks throwing to receivers in single coverage in the earlier drills when there was lots of open field to work with was really impressive to see. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyler Thigpen seemed to get about the same number of reps with Vince Young getting somewhat less. Just watching these guys throw the ball over and over again in these drills made me realize how good they really are. And some spectacular catches were made by every receiver taking part. Although the tempo is fast, the hitting is completely dialed back. When a defensive player gets in position to make a tackle, the effort made represents maybe the first 20% of a what a real tackle under game conditions would involve, but no more. I saw Mario Williams take only 2 snaps: he tried a speed outside move the first time but Fitzpatrick got the ball away before he got there and he tried an inside spin move the second time but was blocked by the right guard. He looks big and strong and fast.
We left just before 5pm, got back to the car and found a roadhouse in Rochester which was good but the portions were laughably huge. One of the entrees could have fed four people easily. Then, back across the Rainbow bridge, a sundae at DQ on Geneva Street in St. Catharines and then home. 600km for the day. Worth doing maybe every 5 years. Overall, a good day. And the Bills were awesome!
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