1. Frank Gore to participate in Thursday's practice
There was encouraging news concerning veteran RB Frank Gore. Placed on the non-football injury list earlier in the week, Gore was fit and ready to participate in the team’s first training camp practice Thursday.
“He’s coming off of the NFI list,” said GM Brandon Beane. “He passed his physical this morning, so he will be out on the practice field ready to roll.”
The news concerning TE Tyler Kroft is a bit different. Kroft, who broke his foot in the spring which required surgery, was placed on the active physically unable to perform list earlier this week.
“He’s basically just out right now,” said head coach Sean McDermott. “He’s making progress. He’s done a great job this offseason getting himself to where he is right now.”
2. Cole Beasley and others with spring injuries to be monitored
There were a host of players with injuries in the spring that kept them off the practice field during OTAs and minicamp. Chief among them was Cole Beasley, who underwent core muscle surgery in May.
The plan for him and many others who were sidelined is to participate in practice here at camp, but to be closely watched by the team’s athletic training staff.
“We will monitor (Cole) as well as some of the other players who are coming off of injury in the spring,” said McDermott. “There are a few of those guys. We’ll monitor him at this point and see how he progresses through the first couple of days and then go from there. Overall it’ll be a one practice at a time type of deal.”
3. How the Rafael Bush retirement, Kurt Coleman signing unfolded
There was an unexpected retirement by Bills veteran S Rafael Bush this past week, and the club pivoted extremely well signing free agent S Kurt Coleman.
GM Brandon Beane shed some light on how those two related events came to happen last week.
“Rafael let us know in the middle of the summer that he was considering (retirement),” said Beane. “Sean and I had several conversations with him in going through that process. You don’t want to talk people out of retiring, so we worked through it and gave him and his family time to make his decision.
“At the same time we were talking to Kurt, telling him if this happened we would make this move (sign him). So we told Rafael that we needed to know by a certain date and we wish him the best. Not everybody knows when their time is and I think he knew he was done with football.”
Both Beane and McDermott are wholly familiar with Coleman’s skill set and character. McDermott, while serving as a coach on Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia, actually recommended that the Eagles draft Coleman in 2010 when asked by Reid what DBs he liked late in the draft that year.
In the 2015 offseason, McDermott was the primary recruiter to get then free agent Kurt Coleman to sign with the Panthers. All Coleman did after signing was post career highs almost across the board in helping Carolina reach the Super Bowl that year.
“Kurt is a guy who is familiar with both of us,” said Beane. “We brought him in to Carolina in 2015 and he had a career year and was a big part of our defense and the full success we had in Carolina that year. He had seven picks and two more in the playoffs that season.
“He’s started more than 80 games so he’ll bring a lot of veteran savvy. He’s a hard-nosed player who is very smart and a great fit for our team and this defense.”
As the Bills continue 2019 OTAs, check out photos of each of the 91 players on the team.
David Sills V - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
John Brown - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Stephen Hauschka - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Matt Barkley - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Tyree Jackson - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Cory Carter - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Andre Roberts Buffalo Bills Free Agent Visit New Era Field Orchard Park, NY March 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Corey Bojorquez - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Cole Beasley - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Zay Jones - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Victor Bolden Jr - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Ray-Ray McCloud III - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Da'Mari Scott - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Robert Foster - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Josh Allen - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019.
Photo by Sara Schmidle
Chase McLaughlin - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Isaiah McKenzie - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Rafael Bush - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Jordan Poyer - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Marcus Murphy - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Micah Hyde - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Taron Johnson - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25). Buffalo Bills vs Los Angeles Chargers at New Era Field, September 16, 2018. Photo by Bill Wippert
E.J. Gaines - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Tre'Davious White - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Frank Gore - Buffalo Bills take part in voluntary off-season at One Bills Drive. April 15, 2019. Photo by Bill Wippert
RB T.J. Yeldon (No. 29)
Lafayette Pitts - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Dean Marlowe - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Senorise Perry - Buffalo Bills take part in voluntary off-season at One Bills Drive. April 15, 2019. Photo by Bill Wippert
Siran Neal - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Kevin Johnson - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Denzel Rice - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Ryan Lewis - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Levi Wallace - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Devin Singletary - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Maurice Alexander - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Patrick DiMarco - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Mik'Quan Deane - Buffalo Bills. Photo by Bill Wippert
Deon Lacey - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Christian Wade - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Jaquon Johnson - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Cameron Lewis - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Juwan Foggie - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Tremaine Edmunds - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Vosean Joseph - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Julian Stanford - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Corey Thompson - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Tyrel Dodson - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Eddie Yarbrough - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Jerry Hughes - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Mike Love - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Lorenzo Alexander - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Matt Milano - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Eli Harold - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Mitch Morse - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Spencer Long - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Vladimir Ducasse - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
L.T. Walton - Buffalo Bills.
Garrett McGhin - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Ike Boettger - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019.
Photo by Sara Schmidle
Russell Bodine #66. Buffalo Bills 2018 player photos. Photo by Bill Wippert. May 2, 2018.
Quinton Spain - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Conor McDermott - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Reid Ferguson - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Cody Ford - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Jeremiah Sirles - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Dion Dawkins - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
LaAdrian Waddle - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Wyatt Teller - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Jon Feliciano - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Ty Nsekhe - Buffalo Bills, May 1, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
De'Ondre Wesley - Buffalo Bills. Photo by Bill Wippert.
Jason Croom - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Tyler Kroft - Buffalo Bills, April 30, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Duke Williams - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Nate Becker - Buffalo Bills.
Lee Smith - Buffalo Bills, May 15, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Nicholas Easley - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Cam Phillips - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Dawson Knox - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Thomas Sweeney - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Shaq Lawson - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Ed Oliver - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Darryl Johnson Jr - Buffalo Bills on May 9, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Trent Murphy - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Kyle Peko - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Robert Thomas - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
Jordan Phillips - Buffalo Bills, May 14, 2019.
Photo by Sara Schmidle
Star Lotulelei, DT (No. 98)
Harrison Phillips - Buffalo Bills, May 8, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle.
