Position battles, impressive starts: 5 things to know about the first week of Bills camp

Buffalo Bills special teams coach Matt Smiley has an engaging personality and when he does his occasional press conferences, he likes to lighten the mood and crack a few jokes.

The other day he was asked about the new fair catch rule on kickoffs which in many ways continues the NFL’s seemingly eventual goal of eliminating the kickoff altogether.

“As a special teams coach, do I hate that rule? I feel like that’s a very inflammatory question,” Smiley said with a smile. “As a lifelong special teams coach, my wife and kids are here at practice today so any talk of me eventually being irrelevant, I’m gonna go ahead and table that for a later day.”

Smiley went on to give the politically correct answer about the rule, but there’s no question if you hooked him up to a polygraph, the needle would be moving because the fair catch option takes away an advantage from teams like the Bills who have been efficient in covering kickoffs.

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Unless there are difficult weather conditions, Tyler Bass can drill every kickoff out of the end zone if that’s what Smiley calls. But last year the Bills tried to utilize their crack coverage team by having Bass keep the ball in play, preferably angled toward the sideline between the 5-yard-line and end zone, and then try to trap the returner inside the 20.

Bass’ touchback percentage was one of the lowest in the league at 48.2%, by design. However, the Bills ranked fourth in the NFL in fewest average yards allowed per return at 20.2, and the opponents’ drive start following a kickoff (excluding onside kicks, or end of half squibs) was the 24.9 which was ninth-best.

Now, those well-placed kickoffs are probably going to be fair caught, and opponents will get to start their possession at the 25-yard-line.

“Almost every other year there’s usually a rule that comes up, a little bit of a tweak,” Smiley said. “A few years ago kickoff coverage was the static start, then the five-by-five a few years before that, no wedge on kickoff returns. Every year there’s tweaks to the rulebook on special teams and then it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with them as a coaching staff and then making sure the players are comfortable with the rules and what it means and how it’ll affect our strategy.”

Here are a few other happenings from the first week of camp:

1. Bills still in search of wide receivers

Brandon Beane says all the time that he’s always looking for ways to add competition to the roster, and that’s certainly the case at the wide receiver position the past few days.

In the offseason Beane signed Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield as free agents and drafted Justin Shorter and Dalton Kincaid - who, let’s face it, is way more a receiver than he is a tight end - to join returning receivers Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Khalil Shakir.

Apparently Beane is not satisfied because the Bills brought in and signed slot receiver Andy Isabella and worked out former Patriots’ first-round pick N’Keal Harry.

Isabella is a 2019 second-round pick of the Cardinals who has underwhelmed his entire four seasons in the NFL, though part of that was due to injury. He has just 33 career catches for 447 yards and three TDs for the Cardinals and Ravens.

“He’s a little bit of a veteran player, I think he’s been in the league around three years and he’s got speed and we’ll see,” coach Sean McDermott said. “Speed’s important and we tried to add speed this offseason and he’ll add to the mix in there.”

Neal was not signed, at least not yet, but what this indicates is that the Bills may believe they don’t have enough depth at such a vital position given the pass-heavy offense the team runs.

2. Linebacker, cornerback battles are free-for-alls

You can get dizzy trying to keep up with who’s playing middle linebacker and cornerback in the starting defensive unit during practice because the Bills, as they said they would, have thrown the competition wide open.

So far, Terrel Bernard, Tyrel Dodson, and Baylon Spector have all taken reps with the 1’s at the critical middle linebacker spot. Spector got his first chance Friday and safety Jordan Poyer came away impressed with the 2022 seventh-round pick.

“He’s a ballplayer,” Poyer said. “Just a guy who is around the ball it seems like all the time. It’s really been cool to see him grow as a football player from last year to this year and really take control of that huddle when he’s in there. So I’m excited to see his growth in this defense and where he goes.”

In the cornerback battle for the spot opposite Tre’Davious White we have seen Kaiir Elam, Dane Jackson and Christian Benford all get run with the 1’s. I’ve said this before and it bears repeating: Elam needs to win this job. He’s a 2022 first-round pick and fair or not, you need your first-round picks to be starters, especially in their second season, but for now, the Bills are staying patient.

“Kaiir is still a young player, he’s still learning, he’s still growing,” Beane said. “This is still a total different system than he played (in college). Christian, even though it was a lower level football (at Villanova), he played in a similar scheme to what we’re playing. So Kaiir is a very talented player, he’s a hard worker and he’s still working his way, but it’s year two, and we’ve seen players in this league, maybe they didn’t thrive year one but he is still an ascending guy. We don’t just hand a spot out because we paid you or where we drafted you.”

One player who is no longer in the cornerback mix is Cameron Dantzler who was waived/injured on Friday and replaced by newly-signed CB Kyron Brown. Dantzler was a 2020 third-round pick of the Vikings who started 26 of 35 games yet was waived in March. He signed with the Commanders and was waived at the end of OTAs and signed by the Bills, but the rangy 6-foot-2, 190-pounder failed to latch on here and he’s back in the free agent pool.

3. Pads go on for Monday workout

After four days of practice, the Bills will put on full pads for their Monday morning workout and that will allow us to get a little clearer picture of what’s happening at the line of scrimmage.

As McDermott alluded to Sunday, it’s a little tough right now to gauge how players such as rookie offensive lineman O’Cyrus Torrence are doing without pads.

For one player, putting on the pads will have more meaning because for Damar Hamlin, it will be the first time he has done so since suffering his cardiac arrest Jan. 2 at Cincinnati. All the workouts he has participated in since then have been padless.

“Trying to make it as normal as possible, but also understanding it may not be quite as normal as we want it to be because of what’s in the past,” McDermott said of Hamlin. “We’re going to support him through this and to this point he’s done a phenomenal job just taking it one day at a time.”

4. Big steps to come for Dalton Kincaid

Another player who will draw scrutiny with the pads going on is rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid because that will be a big step in his development. So far, through OTAs and the first four days of camp, Kincaid has looked every bit like the player the Bills believe he will be. Now, things will get a little more physical so he has to prove he can adapt.

“I’m expecting a welcome to the NFL moment,” he said with a smile Sunday. “I don’t know when it will be; could be in practice, could be in a game, but it’ll come.”

Kincaid has looked fluid in the passing game, both in his route running and in his catching. He has already made a couple of beautiful catches which have raised eyebrows among Allen and others. Being in pads for the first time will give the coaching staff the opportunity to see where he fits as a potential blocker.

“The other piece is the blocking piece that’ll be on display when we put the pads on (Monday),” McDermott said. “We haven’t seen it yet, so I think we get a better feel tomorrow as to what that looks like.”

5. Kim Pegula visited camp Sunday morning

Sunday morning there was a black SUV parked on the running track that surrounds the main practice field at Fisher which seemed a little odd until word got around why it was there. Team co-owner Kim Pegula was inside observing practice in what is believed to be her first public appearance since she suffered a cardiac arrest 13 months ago which caused brain damage.

Well, it wasn’t really a public appearance as she stayed inside the vehicle and no one could really see her. But McDermott and Josh Allen were among those who said hello to the Fairport High School graduate.

She has made progress in her recovery and rehabilitation but it has been reported that she is still having difficulty speaking.

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: Buffalo Bills news: 5 things to know from first week of training camp