The latest observations from Bills camp

The Buffalo Bills are now four practices into Training Camp at St. John Fisher University. The defense has looked dominant for the first few days but the offense started clicking on Wednesday. Here’s the latest observations from days three and four of Bills camp:

Defensive line looking explosive

The defensive line is going to have to get it rolling this season if the Bills want to have sustained success, and they’ve looked good so far.

Ed Oliver has been in the backfield making big plays. One came when he stuffed Zack Moss on a run in the backfield. He was also getting consistent pressure on Allen and forcing him to move out of the pocket and overthrow receivers. This is something you love to see from Ed.

There was consistent pressure from A.J. Epenesa as well as Jordan Phillips, both causing havoc in the backfield. Tim Settle and Phillips both had bat downs of Allen passes at the line of scrimmage on day three and they got pressure on Allen and forced him to scramble out of the pocket.

Khalil Shakir taking advantage of time on field

With Jamison Crowder and Jake Kumerow missing the last two days due to soreness, Rookie WR Khalil Shakir looked sharp in his opportunities. He’s made some nice grabs and has been displaying his ability to get open through the first four days of camp.

Punter battle

Veteran Matt Haack and rookie Matt Araiza went head to head for a second time on day three. Haack once again had the slight edge in consistency. However, Araiza did all the holding on place kicks for Tyler Bass and was perfect in his execution.

James Cook looking explosive

Cook could very well end up taking over Singletary’s spot as the lead back in this offense by midseason if Singletary doesn’t show the burst that he showed towards the end of last year. Cook is young, fresh and ready to prove himself and is he looking good in practice so far. Cook is looking good in space and in the receiving game as he caught several swing passes from Allen in a simulated game.

According to Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com, Cook put a juke move on reserve linebacker Joe Giles-Harris for extra yards after a short catch, which got the bench and the crowd fired up.

These types of plays have gotten him praise from OC Ken Dorsey:

Stefon Diggs and Kaiir Elam getting into battles

Diggs and Elam were barking at each other once again in Wednesday’s practice lining up against each other. Not sure what was said, but once can assume it’s all friendly, competitive fire. Both these guys are competitive and want to be the best they can. Going up against each other is only going to make them that much better.

It was reported that Elam was forced to play with boxing gloves on his hands Wednesday to prevent himself from holding and to learn to play more with his feet. That’s something we’ll keep an eye on in the next couple practices.

Josh Allen and the offense on fire on day four

Bills media couldn’t stop praising Josh Allen on Wednesday. He has started camp off slow, as offenses usually do. It’s a time to try new things and get rhythm down with new players, and the Bills not only have new skill players but a whole new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey. It’s great to see Allen picking things up after just four days on the field.

The Bills have an off day tomorrow and then are back at it on Friday and Saturday morning. Hopefully I will see some of you there on Saturday for the first padded practice!

Go Bills!