The first Buffalo Bills practices of this bizarre preseason are finally on the books. It looks like we’re going to have football after all, as things went relatively well in the NFL landscape during the opening game of training camps despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The real test will come when the teams travel. But let’s keep this one light. The Bills won’t be training on Saturday, and while reports of training this offseason have been limited by the team and the league, we did see some interesting nuggets of information coming out of Orchard Park this that can help catch up with the good and the bad. from week 1 of the camp.
With that, here are some winners and losers from the first week of Camp Bills:
Winners
Bills offensive linemen Cody Ford. (AP Photo / Jeffrey T. Barnes)
OL Cody Ford
At the start of training camp, Cody Ford certainly starts playing. Bills head coach Sean McDermott had previously wanted to keep Ford on the right tackle, but on at least two occasions we’ve seen him get reps on the right guard. Either way, it looks like Ford is on the team’s offensive line, we’ll just know where later.
BY AJ Epenesa
A second-round pick is usually an exciting prospect, but you’re even more in the spotlight when the team that picks you doesn’t have a first-round draft. Rookie AJ Epenesa takes this in stride. There was a video of him beating guard Brian Winters with power, but The Athletic also mentioned Epenesa’s speed against “weaker opponents”. Plus, Epenesa doesn’t just play on the defensive end, the rookie and McDermott both discussed this week that Epenesa was used in all four spots on the D-line at the start of camp. Looks like he could have a big part.
WR Duke Williams
No wide receiver has stood out more this week than Duke Williams. He performed so well that the team felt compelled to tweet videos of two of his takes this week. In fact, Williams had such good catches that Bills Wire was fooled. We dubbed the first start of the week “training camp,” only to give Williams… a better one later in the week.
The big question with Williams, however, is that of special teams. If he can find a way to contribute to it, it looks like he’s definitely going to find a place on the list.
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