Eventful Tuesday in Buffalo

Tuesday, August 15^th was an interesting day in Buffalo to say the least. From shocking retirements to some on field fisticuffs, the Bills were full of action as we head into week 2 of the preseason.

Brandon Shell

The first story of the day came just as the Bills were heading out to practice as it was announced that offensive tackle Brandon Shell was not at practice and was intending to retire after seven seasons in the NFL. Shell was brought in after starting eleven games in Miami last season to compete with Spencer Brown for the right tackle position, and after playing 18 snaps in the preseason opener on Saturday decided that he had had enough and was calling it a career.

With the Bills lack of depth at the tackle position, Shell retiring does not help an already depleted position group. After incumbent starters Dion Dawkins and Brown, the only tackles left with NFL experience are swing tackle David Quessenberry and former Bills fifth round pick (and playoff touchdown scorer) Tommy Doyle.

Friendly Fire

The fireworks didn’t stop once practice got started, during the team portion of practice Tyrel Dodson got into it with Offensive Linemen Spencer Brown and Mitch Morse, which lead to lots of pushing and shoving between the offense and the defense. Even reports of one player giving his best Myles Garrett impression by swinging a helmet into the pile. However, Dodson has since tweeted out that he was just tossing it back a teammate.

After the dustup Josh Allen came over and had a very heated exchange with Dodson, in which one could assume Josh showed his great leadership and tried to help diffuse the situation. Fights like this are a part of training camp. There is only so long that you can go up against the same guys day after day until something like this happens. But, the practice field is a lot like Vegas, what happens between the lines, stays between the lines and we can assume this will not affect anything off the field as far as team morale goes.

Tyler Matakevich

The last piece of news out of Bills Camp today was the return of special teams ace Tyler Matakevich. Matakevich had been on the PUP list nursing a right calf injury, but it appears he is now good to go and is back on the practice field. The former Steeler will be going into his fourth season in Buffalo. Having played in every regular season game since joining the Bills and has been voted a special teams captain the past two seasons. The only Bill remaining on the PUP list now is Defensive End, Von Miller, who could be back any week now.