Bills Training Camp Recap (2023): Day 9

The Buffalo Bills were back at St. John Fisher University for another day of training camp. Buffalo looks to build more chemistry and momentum as they are now less than one week away from their first pre-season game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Here are some key takeaways from Day 9 of Buffalo Bills training camp.

1.) Jordan Phillips Returns

Today’s big news from camp was that Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips returned from the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list. This was Phillips’ first camp practice with the team.

Phillips did not participate in any team drills, as he was only working on individual stuff on his first day back.

2.) MLB Battle

As we get closer to the team’s first preseason game, the Bills still have not decided on a defensive signal caller.

Early in today’s practice, we saw Tyrel Dodson taking snaps with the first team at MLB. But later on, the Bills gave second-year linebacker Terrel Bernard snaps with the first team during 11-on-11 drills.

It seems the Bills have locked in on Dodson and Bernard as the top two for the vacant MLB job, but time will tell who ends up winning the battle.

3.) CB2 Battle

The battle for the second cornerback position keeps heating up at Bills camp.

It’s still the same rotation as before, with Dane Jackson, Kaiir Elam, and Christian Benford. Today it seemed like Jackson got more of the first-team reps opposite Tre’Davious White. Though Elam and Benford did get some work with the first-team defense.

Benford made one of the plays of the day as during 11-on-11s, the second-year corner picked off Josh Allen with good coverage on the intended target.

Elam also put in a lot of work on the side during individual drills and was one of the last players on the field after practice.

4.) RG Battle

Today saw Ryan Bates and rookie O’Cyrus Torrence split time at right guard with the first-team offense.

5.) Screen Game

One component of the Bills offense last season that needed help was the screen game. Today, Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey dialed up some very effective screen plays.

The tight end screen, specifically, was effective today. Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid both caught screen passes that likely would’ve gone for 20+ yard plays in a real game setting.

Later in practice, Damien Harris caught a screen pass from Kyle Allen that would’ve resulted in a 15+ yard gain.

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