Tag: bills training camp

New Bills RB Damien Harris: “Buffalo is a special place”

New #Bills RB Damien Harris: “Buffalo is a special place”

As training camp is fully underway for the Buffalo Bills, the roster features a new addition in their offense’s backfield.

With that, also comes the first full week of live-action and of free-agent addition at running back, Damien Harris.

Harris joined the team from the AFC rival Patriots this offseason and is competing for playing time with second-year back James Cook, and fellow free agent addition Latavius Murray.

“Buffalo is a special place, it’s one of the most special places in America,” Harris said to the media about his new playing home. “You only get to truly experience it as a Buffalo Bill, the right way.”

Ideally, Harris will be the physical, big back the team has been missing under Sean McDermott and help take the ball, and the pressure off QB Josh Allen, on third down and goal line plays.

The front office and coaching staff are hoping he’ll do just that, as are the fans whose support Harris has already begun to feel in his first training camp with the Bills.

“We had a practice in Rochester the other day in the rain and no one flinched or moved a muscle, it was a full, packed house,” The RB added.” So it’s just things like that that mean a lot to you and it just makes you want to win for them that much more.”

The 26-year-old was drafted by New England in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, after playing college ball at Alabama where he backed up Derek Henry before winning the starting job after Henry left to go pro. After four years with the Patriots, a fanbase like Buffalo’s has been a positive change.

“This is crazy, it almost made me late for practice, but this is great, these are the best fans in the world, so it was great to come out here and strap it on front of them for the first time in our stadium, my first time here on the good side. Obviously, the energy is electric and I’m glad to be here.”

Though last year’s second-round pick, RB James Cook has seen most of the first-team reps, Harris gained more time with the starters on the seventh day of camp. While he’s learning the offense, it’s the endzone that continues to catch his eye.

“It does, it does, anytime you can get into the box, you always want to touch that money so as runningbacks especially,” Harris shared. “When you get the ball, it’s the hardest yard in football to gain, it’s the most on the line and you want to touch that paint so your heart starts beating a little bit faster, but you’ve got to be able to maintain your composure, red your key, do your job and hopefully get into the end zone.”

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ESPN poll favors Josh Allen over Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield in Super Bowl chances

ESPN poll favors Josh Allen over Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield in Super Bowl chances:

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Ever since Josh Allen signed his record-setting extension with the Buffalo Bills, there has been a lot of buzz around sports media.

While much of that has been centered around the fourth-year QB and his newly minted pact with the team, there has also been a lot of commentary and speculation surrounding the quarterbacks considered to be his peers.

That would be the two other starting NFL quarterbacks that were also selected in the first round of Allen’s 2018 draft class who’ve had success in recent years. Those would be 2019 league MVP Lamar Jackson and the top overall selection at number one in that draft, Baker Mayfield.

On ESPN’s Get Up this week, analysts debated who among these three playmakers would be more likely to win SB LVI. Jeff Darlington and Damien Woody picking Allen and the Bills, while Sam Ocho chose Jackson and the Ravens and Mike Greenberg chose Mayfield and the Browns.

Greenberg then took to Twitter, posting a poll to settle the dispute as to who fans would bet on to win the Super Bowl, should either of the three QB’s find themselves in the championship game at season’s end.

Allen won in a landslide.

Out of 16,745 votes, Allen and the Bills finished with 62.6% of the fan voting, Mayfield and the Browns had 24.5%, while Jackson and the Ravens had 12.9%.

One aspect that the poll results illustrate could play out this season as well- That the Ravens and Browns are competing against each other in their respective division, meaning each has the ability to impact the other’s chances of winning or losing a playoff spot.

Allen and the Bills’ deep 2020 playoff run to the AFC Championship game surpassed how far Jackson and Mayfield have made it in the playoffs thus far in their careers.

As preseason rankings are high on the Bills, time will tell if Jackson’s Ravens and Mayfield’s Browns achieve a level of postseason success on par with Allen and Buffalo’s.

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What Bills’ Stefon Diggs said about Gabriel Davis’ ‘next step’

What #Bills’ Stefon Diggs said about Gabriel Davis’ ‘next step’

When it comes to the wide receiver position, Stefon Diggs knows a thing or two. After all, the 27-year-old had a dominant 2020 campaign leading the league with 1,535 receiving yards and 127 receptions.

While the Bills wideout had the most touchdowns (8) for the team as well, it turns out that was part of a bet with 22-year-old rookie receiver Gabriel David to see who would catch the most.

In his first year after being drafted by Buffalo in the fourth round of the NFL Draft, Davis notched seven total scoring catches.

He had a couple of big-time plays in the end zone against the Titans and Jets, however, that got called back due to penalties. Had those plays not been flagged, the rookie might have won that bet.

With some early success under his belt, could Davis have an even better season even with the teams’ addition of veteran WR Emmanuel Sanders?

Diggs believes he could do just that.

“I tell him all the time now — ‘let me see it,'” Diggs said. “‘Last year, you did play pretty well. You did have some success, but there’s a lot more football for you and there’s a lot more you can obtain, a lot more things you can do better. So let me see that this next year, making that second-year jump.”

Despite 2020 being his first year in the league, Davis saw increased playing time due to his ability to play every receiver position, as well as injuries to WR John Brown.

In fact, Davis led all NFL rookies in yards per catch last season with an average of 17.1 yards.

“He handled himself extremely well as a professional,” added Diggs. “He had success and he handled success well … He’s a humble kid, he’s a kid that works extremely hard, and I look forward to him taking that next step.”

The veteran wideout should know, he met with Davis in Florida during the offseason to work on the young receiver’s route running.

“Diggs is a big help. He has a different style of play than I do,” Davis said. “So I’m always trying to pick his brain on what he likes to do and watching what he does and trying to add that to my arsenal.”

The progress and versatility have shown at training camp, where he’s had more playing time while Cole Beasley, Diggs, and Sanders had veterans’ days off.

Count offensive coordinator Brian Daboll among those who love to see it.

“He’s one of the guys, Stef gets a down day or something, and you’re like, ‘All right, Gabe get in there!’ said Daboll. “You don’t even tell him where he’s at. He just goes in and knows it.”

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Bills’ Cole Beasley describes impact of QB background in the NFL

#Bills’ Cole Beasley describes impact of QB background in the NFL:

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The Bills have been known in recent years to bring in players with certain traits in their playing background. One of those common traits among personnel is experience playing multiple positions.

The versatility of players has allowed coordinator Brian Daboll to be creative on the offensive side of the ball in how he attacks opposing defenses. Since 2018 he’s run successful trick plays using receivers like John Brown and Isaiah McKenzie for scoring tosses.

On the difference playing quarterback in high school made, wide receiver Cole Beasley was asked this week how players use that in the NFL.

“It’s just a basic understanding of coverages and then once you get that you understand how they work,” Beasley said while addressing the media. “You understand each position plays it and what their responsibilities are, so then you can learn how to use their responsibilities against them to get open.”

The receiver made a trick play this past season on a toss from Josh Allen, which he threw to Gabriel Davis for a touchdown:

Quarterback Josh Allen remarked that Beasley “sees things through the eyes of a quarterback,” and the slot receiver certainly sounds like he does.

“For me it goes a lot deeper than a lot of people think into,” Beasley added. “If I don’t know what coverage their in I’m not going to play as well, and I’ve gotten really good at diagnosing it and narrowing it down to one or two coverages before the snap, and then once the snap happens usually I immediately know right now what it is, and then I react off that. That not only allows me to run fast not only running routes, but then after I catch the ball I know where they should be coming from, and it helps me for after the catch as well.”

His SMU and Bills teammate Emmanuel Sanders played receiver, running back, and safety, and threw a touchdown at Bellville High School in Texas. So he too could find his way into one of Brian Daboll’s trick plays in the future.

“Daboll is probably the best in the league in putting his guys in the best position to succeed at what they do best. Guys have the flexibility to be themselves in this system and he’s constantly diversifying this offense,” said Allen. “That’s why guys play so hard, they know at any point they can get the ball.”

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Report: Bills report date for training camp set

Buffalo Bills report date for training camp reportedly via ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

With a new collective bargaining agreement and an ongoing pandemic putting things on hold this offseason, there’s a lot of confusion as to when the Bills will actually hit the field for training camp.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, we might have that day and it’s based off a new curveball in the CBA. Reportedly teams will report to training camp 47 or 48 before their regular season opener.

Previously teams would head to training camp based on their preseason schedule, about 15 days prior to that exhibition opener. The goal with the change was to make reporting dates closer for each team across the board in the league.

The Bills will tentatively report to training camp on July 28, along with 28 other teams. The other four teams all report a few days earlier than that because those teams open the season on Thursday Night Football (Chiefs vs. Texans) or play in the first preseason game, otherwise known as the Hall of Fame preseason game (Cowboys vs. Steelers) which is earlier than the rest of the NFL’s preseason.

Previously the NFL already announced that training camps have to be held at team facilities this year, so the Bills will hold their camp in Orchard Park, not at St. John Fisher College. In addition, the NFL is reportedly considering shortening the preseason as well. Both are safety measures in relation to the ongoing coronavirus issue in the country.

 

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