When Josh Allen uncorked a magnificent deep ball Tuesday and DJ Moore went up to make the catch despite three Buffalo Bills’ first-string defensive backs in his midst, it was not a moment that defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard cherished.
“The coaching point for my guys here is live (game), he can’t catch that ball,” Leonhard said Thursday morning prior to the penultimate training camp practice at St. John Fisher University. “You got three players, you’re going to have to fight that one to the ground.
“It’s an unbelievable throw and to be able to track it the way that (Moore) tracked the ball, extremely impressive. But in a live football game, you three guys, the ball ends up on the ground, somehow, some way, like that’s the coaching point.”
Once his irritation over the completion subsided, Leonhard admitted plays like that will help Allen and the Buffalo offense, so from that perspective it was good to see.
He said Moore has really caught his eye in the short time he’s been running routes against Leonhard’s defense, mainly because so many subtle traits emerge on the field that don’t always show up on tape.
“He’s bigger than you think he is, he’s stronger, he’s more explosive than you think,” Leonhard said. “I think sometimes you watch guys on tape and you think you have a feel for who they are and what their skill set is, and you see it live and you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s why he’s so hard to tackle’ or ‘that’s why he’s always creating separation.’
“He’s fun because, personality-wise, you can tell he’s confident, he knows who he is. It’s quiet but you can tell he’s got a chip on his shoulder and he works and he makes people around him better. He does something every day that’s real subtle, and you’re like ‘that was pretty impressive.’ It doesn’t quite jump off the tape sometimes, but he’s a little bit different type of player as far as the NFL goes.”
Here are some of my observations of Day 6 at training camp:
C.J. Gardner-Johnson was a full participant
This one came as a bit of a surprise given that we’re so early in training camp but after missing just two practices, Gardner-Johnson was back on the field, in pads, and was involved in every aspect of the practice.
That was obviously good news, particularly for him as he tries to learn a new defense with new teammates, all while facing high expectations as one of the key offseason acquisitions made by Brandon Beane.
“Just stay positive. I don’t really get too negative,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I’ve got a lot of trust in this training staff here, more than other places I’ve been. So I was ready to see what it was and get it knocked out of the way.”
When he was asked about what separates the Bills’ training staff from others, he said, “Integrity and just being honest and trusting me and honestly, just being really on point with a lot of things. Being brutally honest with me, like this is the risk you take if you go back, this is the benefits if you do the plan and stuff like that. So just, you know, personal conversation every day.”
Tyler Bass kicked in public
Until Thursday, all of the returning Bills kicker’s work had come after fans left campus for the day. He’s been grinding his way through walk-throughs or specialist work with snapper Reid Ferguson and punters Mitch Wishnowsky and Tommy Doman who are competing for not only the punting job, but to be Bass’ holder.
But Thursday was Bass’ time to perform in practice and after doing some work on both deep and squib kickoffs, he attempted seven field goals ranging from 32 to 51 yards and made five of the kicks, though every one of them had plenty of leg.
“Definitely some things to clean up, but felt good being back,” Bass said. “I’ve done it for a while, I have the experience, but it’s all about just getting reps, just building that belief in your snapper and your holder and I think we’re well on our way.
“I know you guys have only seen me kick once, but we’ve kicked a lot before that, so we’re excited and can’t wait. The body feels good. Again, a lot of work that I put in to get to this point but we still got a lot more growing to do. Having the belief that they have in me gives me confidence and more belief in myself.”
A quieter day in the temper department
There was really only one dust up in the practice as wide receiver Joshua Palmer and rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun pushed and shoved before being separated. This was a stark difference to Tuesday when the Bills were in pads for the first full practice and three separate fights broke out.
Leonhard was asked for his view on fighting at practice. He recalled that back when he played, teams sometimes had two practices in a day, or one very long one, and there came a point when tempers were going to erupt.
“Obviously, back in the day when you had your two-a-days and all that, like, you got tired a little bit faster, and you got sick of going against the same guy over and over again,” he said. “You just got to teach them how we practice, how we finish. To me, there are some that are justified, and then there is some that are like, ‘All right, you’re just tired and being a-holes’ and everything in between there.
“There is always gray when you’re playing football, but it’s not live (game action), there are rules of engagement and there is always a gray area, and just try to teach everyone what we do as an organization and how we’re going to play. But you’d rather pull them back than not know if they’ll bite.”
Bills running backs honored former NFL star Chris Johnson
Johnson announced a few weeks ago that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the NFL community is showing support for the former running back who is one of only nine players in league history to have a 2,000-yard rushing season, doing that in 2009 for the Titans.
Thursday, the Bills’ running backs – James Cook, Ty Johnson, Ray Davis, Ian Wheeler and Frank Gore Jr did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which was born in the summer of 2014, and eventually raised $115 million for ALS research, a disease for which there is still no cure.
The five players stood as one and had freezing cold water dumped over their heads, then expressed their love for the 40-year-old Johnson in his ongoing battle.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: DJ Moore shines and 4 other observations from Bills training camp
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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By Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
