Bills Panthers Joint Training Camp Notes: Day 1

I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting the great Joe Marino (He’s a big dude … maybe backup swing tackle? What do you think, Joe?) and the excellent Greg Tompsett. I’m a short guy (5’9″ … on a good day), so my sightlines were often obstructed, a few times even by Joe Buscaglia. Why you got to get in my way, Buscy?

Anyway, with all of that, here are my main takeaways:

• Josh Allen looked solid, though he was hit or miss with his deep ball. He had a few dropped that I saw, but he looked pretty comfortable on crossing and underneath routes, which is something to be happy about.
• Matt Barkley played well, and he found the endzone a few times. He seems to have developed real chemistry with Cam Phillips.
• Tyree Jackson is a huge man … wow. But he did not look comfortable out there. He had some nice zip passes, but the man seems to lack any touch. Is it too late to transition him to TE? Just saying …
• Robert Foster, my man, disappointed me yet again. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he does not look like the same receiver that was tearing it up at the end of last season. Greg and I were talking about this, and he feels that Foster is a lock on the roster, but with how well McKenzie and Ray-Ray are playing, I wonder if his position is in doubt.
• Speaking of, Ray-Ray and Isaiah McKenzie looked sharp out there. They are trending up.
• Also speaking of, Ray-Ray didn’t come to the sideline … he’s ducking me, afraid of the fro-off challenge. I was able to hear McCloud’s personal trainer talking about me though. He said, “He doesn’t know it’s a damn show, he thinks it’s a damn fight!”
• Was surprised to see how much run Andre Roberts is getting with the first-team offense. And it’s funny, though he only stands 5’11”, he looks like a big receiver next to the smurfs. He represents a nice surprise at this point in camp.
• My boy, Tre Day struggled some against speedy Panthers receiver, Curtis Samuel. He got burned a couple of times.
• The starting offensive line looked the same as preseason: Dawkins, Spain, Feliciano, Ford, and Nsekhe. I was impressed with Dawkins. He played with a bit of nasty today.
• Micah Hyde looks healthy, and Mitch Morse practiced with a red no-contact jersey on. At the end of practice, Morse ran back and forth across the field. Here’s hoping he’ll be 100% soon.
• Got a chance to meet Zay, who was extremely polite, and Hausch money. I said, “Hello, Mr. Money.” I think he might have heard that joke before. Anyway, I used to live in Washington state. Hauschka looks like he is one of those Upper Northwest types.
• Finally, I got to shake hands with Coach Sean McDermott. I could hear McDermott’s claps from 40 yards away and in a crowd. Dude has bigger hands than I thought he’d have, but I think I might be taller than him? If he wasn’t so damned intimidating with his process powers, I might have called him out on calling other people smurfs. Dude is short … but don’t tell him I said so.