Orchard Park, New York — The Buffalo Bills kicked off their mandatory three-day mini-camp Tuesday afternoon.
Once again the Bills are going into the season with a new head coach and questions about their starting quarterback.
With rookie EJ Manuel still learning the nuances of playing quarterback in the NFL, the Bills released Tarvaris Jackson at the beginning of the week. That leaves the Bills with Manuel, Jeff Tuel and veteran Kevin Kolb as their three quarterbacks in camp.
Kolb is playing for his third team in his seven-year NFL career and isn’t worried in the least about the competition he’s facing for the Bills starting quarterback job. “If I focus on myself and I do things right myself and play the game the way I can play it then things will take care of itself. I’m sure EJ (Manuel) is thinking the same thing. That’s just the way the game works.”
Kolb dismissed the thought that Manuel would have an advantage in the competition because he was the Bills first round pick this year. “I don’t buy what’s being sold I guess.” Kolb added. “I was a first pick for the Eagles, so I’ve seen it from that perspective. I was with the Arizona Cardinals and they just gone through drafting Matt Leinart and then Kurt Warner came in was supposed to be the backup then took over and took them to the Super Bowl. I’ve seen it from a lot of different perspectives. So I have an open mind about it. Like I said, I just have confidence in myself and my abilities and this offence and, hopefully, what I can do in it.”
While pleased with how Manuel is progressing, Marrone admitted Kolb’s experience has given him an edge at this point in the off-season. “With EJ, we just want to make sure we’re taking it in a natural progression. He’s not seeing the same type of things that Kevin is seeing out there right now and we’re just working ahead, building him up and you’ll see his reps increase as we get ready for training camp.
More than anything, Kolb said that after working with the Eagles and the Cardinals he’s found an offensive scheme that suits his skill set. “It just makes sense to me. It makes sense my head. It makes sense the way Nate (OC Nathaniel Hackett) does stuff. I just like the way he approaches the game and Doug (Marrone) approaches the game offensively and their schemes. The biggest thing is belief; and I believe in what they’re doing.”
Certainly Kolb has as much to prove this year as any player on the Bills roster. There’s no doubt that Kolb has a good arm and can run an offence. What is in question is his ability to stay healthy and show consistency in his game. Because of his experience there every reason to think Kolb will start the season as the Bills starting quarterback. Whether or not Kolb can stay healthy for an entire season is something nobody is sure of, not even Kolb.
Coaches Corner:
Doug Marrone’s NFL experience dates back to 1987 when he was a rookie offensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins. Between his playing days in the NFL, his time as an assistant coach in both the NFL and the NCAA and his stint as the head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen Marrone is very confident in his abilities and he’s certainly very comfortable in his own skin. Once practice gets underway Marrone is quite content to let his assistants do most of the talking and shouting. Afterwards Marrone gathered all of the players and coaches together and let them know what he thought of their effort and what he expected of them the rest of the week. After all of that Marrone spoke to the media and gave us his report card of where he thinks the Bills are at.
“I think both sides of the ball are grasping the playbook well. The point now is it’s very difficult to go out there when you don’t have a lot of DNA. Sometimes you have a play and it’s a great play against a certain defence, just like it will be in a game, and we’re just trying to make sure that players are comfortable with the system, what we’re running, what we’re doing. I want to say that either side is further along than the other; mostly the defence will tend to be a little bit further along. I was very pleased, especially with the defensive backs today. I thought that they’ve communicated since we’ve been together which is a great feeling for myself. It’s a feeling of comfort-ness that they’re getting comfortable with our scheme. Now the quarterbacks are getting a chance to work with the receivers. We’ve put a lot in there and then the time it’ll come to play and I think that’ll help us offensively.”
Marrone also made some cosmetic changes to the interior of the Bills Field House. Huge banners hang on either end of the field celebrating the Bills past triumphs. Their AFL Championship banners from 1964 and 1965 hang on one end and their four AFC title banners hang on the other end. Prominently displayed on both ends of the Field House between all of the banners in bold letters is the phrase “Don’t confuse effort with RESULTS.”
Players to watch in camp:
Linebacker Kiko Alonso. Drafted in the second round out of Oregon the 238-pound Alonso is a perfect addition to a Bills defence that needs help at linebacker. The first thing jumps out at you when watching Alonso in drills is just how quick he is. Every drill he is part of is done at top speed and done with a real sense of urgency.
Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. Drafted in the third round out of Texas Goodwin is one of the fastest athletes I’ve ever seen in person. Goodwin isn’t too big (185 pounds) but he is blessed with blinding speed. A track star as well as a football star at Texas, Goodwin represented the USA at the London Summer Games in the long jump. Goodwin also ran a 4.27 in the 40 at the combine. Working on kick-offs in their special teams drills Goodwin was clearly the fastest man on the field and has the speed to take any kickoff all the way if somebody on the opposing coverage team misses an assignment.
“I think that there a lot of guys who are going to emerge with our offence. They are able to play fast. When you let those guys play fast, man, they can really show what they’re made of. A guy like TJ (Graham), a guy like Marquise (Goodwin), let them use their speed, let them play fast and quit thinking and go run” said Kolb.
The long shot:
WR Chris Hogan. Hogan Gained fame on NFL Films “Hard Knocks” last year after he was tagged with the nickname “7-11” because he was always open. Not only did he get open but Hogan made a number of nice catches during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. Based on the quality and the quantity of receivers the Bills have in camp Hogan will be in tough to make the team. But having said that Hogan certainly didn’t hurt his cause with the kind of effort he put forth Tuesday.
The Bills will wrap up their mandatory mini-camp on Thursday. This will be the last time everyone has a chance to work together until July 26 when training camp gets underway at St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester, New York.