Buffalo Bills training camp news, Day 10: Backup QBs struggle, Boeheim family visits

With Monday morning’s Buffalo Bills training camp practice at St. John Fisher University open only to friends, family and corporate sponsors, there were far fewer Bills fans in attendance than a normal day.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any true blue fans there and one of the biggest on hand was Jimmy Boeheim, son of the legendary former Syracuse basketball coach.

“Huge Bills fan,” said Boeheim, who was at the practice with his father Jim and mother Juli, guests of team owner Terry Pegula. “When I’m overseas playing basketball, I’m staying up til’ the primetime games are over, I’m staying up til’ 3-4 a.m. to watch the games. Bring my (Bills) flag over there with me and all that. So yeah, I’m a big fan.”

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The Boeheims were given the star treatment as they were on the sidelines throughout the two-hour workout, and at one point Pegula brought them onto the field during individual drills.

They spent time with injured edge rusher Von Miller and general manager Brandon Beane and then after practice the family went back on the field to meet Josh Allen and take a few pictures with the star quarterback which Jimmy said was a thrill. He said his father didn’t allow him to play football as a kid “so I never had a chance” to be a quarterback, though he did pitch a little in baseball.

As for Jim, he was in a jovial mood taking in the practice and he even made some time for his favorite adversaries, the media, after it was over.

“This is gonna be a special year,” he predicted for the Bills. “I like the organization and the way they do things. We’re not quite this organized in basketball.”

Of Allen he said, “I love him. I think he’s a great kid but he’s a great football player. It’s fun to watch him. Every time he throws it somebody catches it. What’s that about?”

Here are some other observations I had:

Backup Bills quarterbacks Kyle Allen, Matt Barkley have not looked good

Throughout his career, Allen has been pretty much indestructible. The only games he has missed for Buffalo were four in the middle of his 2018 rookie season when he banged his elbow on the helmet of a Houston Texan.

Based on what we’ve seen at training camp so far, the Bills are surely hoping and praying that Allen stays healthy this season, too, because new backup Kyle Allen and third-stringer Matt Barkley have not been impressive.

Granted, they’re usually working with the second and third team, but remember, in most cases they’re also working against the second and third team defense. Kyle Allen saved the Bills more than $4 million by signing a $1.2 million contract compared to the $6 million they paid Case Keenum last year to do basically nothing on the field. But the way he has looked so far, it’s kind of a “get what you pay for” situation.

“We have confidence in both of those guys,” McDermott said. “Learning our offense for Kyle in particular is new; it’s a new offense that he’s now in and that takes some time so getting him as many reps as we possibly can is important. I think he’s done some good things and there’s some things that I’m sure he’s working on, as well as Matt.”

Jordan Phillips working back slowly from injury

The defensive tackle underwent rotator cuff surgery in mid-February and missed the entire offseason program and the first two weeks of camp, but he was activated off the physically unable to perform list Sunday morning.

He hasn’t done much more than conditioning work in his first two days, but he said he’ll be ready for the season opener Sept. 11 in New York. “Oh, yeah, I’ll be ready for Week 1,” he said.

Now, the question becomes, will Phillips still be on the team? The Bills added several defensive linemen in the offseason and while Phillips was re-signed to a one-year, $3 million free agent contract, there’s no guarantee of a roster spot, especially after all the time he has missed.

The depth chart at tackle includes Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Tim Settle and free agent signee Poona Ford who has looked good thus far. And while Phillips has occasionally taken snaps on the edge, that group is stacked with Von Miller (eventually), Leonard Floyd, Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, A.J. Epenesa and Shaq Lawson.

There are going to be some tough cuts on the defensive line and Phillips could be one at a cost of a not too terrible $1.2 million in dead cap money.

Buffalo Bills training camp news, notes for Day 10

▶ Defensive tackle Ed Oliver sat out the workout with back soreness, and defensive back Cam Lewis was out after hurting his groin Sunday. Same for fullback Reggie Gilliam who has a sore groin.

▶ For a little while it felt like the CB2 battle was down to Kaiir Elam and Dane Jackson. Not anymore. Christian Benford has been primarily with the 1’s the last two days and in that time he has picked off three passes, all of them against Kyle Allen. Benford has been a surprise ever since last season when the 2022 sixth-round pick earned the opening day start against the Rams.

▶ The first-team offense looked fine in what was a pretty physical padded practice. Josh Allen threw a dime to Trent Sherfield who made a diving catch in the front corner of the end zone. Later, Dalton Kincaid went low to make a great catch of an Allen pass with linebacker Tyrel Dodson in tight coverage.

▶ The backup offensive units really struggled, though. There was a lack of precision in every area, especially in the two-minute drill. However, the play of the day was made by lower tier wide receiver KeeSean Johnson who leaped to reel in a high Barkley pass with one hand.

▶ Left tackle Dion Dawkins left the practice midway through with an undisclosed issue and when he returned from the locker room he did not participate. In his place was David Quessenberry. The other starting tackle, Spencer Brown, was in an ornery mood as he got into a coupe shoving matches with defenders during the run game periods.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during training camp, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills news from training camp: Backup QBs struggle, CB battle intense