The Bills are nearing the end of their time in Rochester and have just two more practices at St. John Fisher before breaking camp. Here are three things to know from Day 10 of Bills Camp.
1 — Brandon Beane addresses James Cook situation
Bills running back James Cook missed practice for the second consecutive day as part of a hold-in while he seeks a new contract. Cook told reporters after Sunday's practice that it was a "business" decision.
Beane addressed where things are at with Cook during Monday's appearance on One Bills Live.
"There's been communication since we've been here," Beane said. "This is my ninth season here, I've never had a player missing a practice over a contract. I take personal responsibility for that. I don't like that. One of my job is to make sure I'm eliminating any distractions from our team and our organization."
Beane added that he hopes a resolution can be made "soon".
"Hopefully we can get a resolution whether that's a deal, or 'hey there's no deal let's play it out' and go from there," Beane said.
Even with the RB's recent decision to hold-in, Beane said this doesn't affect how he feels about Cook.
"There's no hard feelings with Jimbo at all," Beane explained. "Sometimes you just have to agree to disagree and keep working on things."
Cook's absence the last two days has opened the door for additional reps for second year running back Ray Davis and veteran Ty Johnson. Davis said he learned of Cook's decision right as the team was taking the field for Sunday's practice, but isn't thinking about it too much
"I just control what I can control. It's about just coming out here and doing what I can do. It's a next man up mentality for practice, whoever's getting reps, me, Ty, Darrynton or Frank, we got to go out there keep playing ball and let everything take care of itself," Davis said.
Davis made sure to acknowledge that no one in the running backs room is holding Cook's absence against him/
"We'd love to have him out here. He's a great running back, a great teammate and a great brother," Davis shared. "However the situation folds out, I know it's going to be the best for his interest."
2 — Shavers, White and Lewis shine on Day 10
Monday's practice started off hot with some one-on-ones before breaking into team periods.
Wide receiver Keon Coleman was lined up against several cornerbacks who beat off routes to make catches. On one route, Coleman got open, sold the fake, and broke off clean. The very next one-on-one he created separation to make the catch with strong hands through contact.
During team periods, the wide receiver room was battling. With several guys not participating in practice due to injury, this gave other receivers on the roster plenty of additional reps.
Quarterback Josh Allen launched two 40+ yard passes down the sideline, one which was thrown to wide receiver Tyrell Shavers who beat his defender, tracked the deep ball well and pulled it in for a toe-tapping touchdown and flexed for celebration. Unfortunately, the referee ruled the play out of bounds as Shavers had just one foot in. Thankfully, that wasn't his only highlight-reel worthy play. Shavers and Allen linked up later in practice for an in-bounds toe-tapping touchdown on a shorter play. It was the receivers best day of camp as he caught six out of the seven passes thrown to him on Monday.
Allen's other dime was thrown to Keon Coleman who grabbed the ball out of the air in tight coverage for a touchdown and ran with his hands open as his teammates cheered.
WRs Jalen Virgil and Stephen Gosnell reached the end zone as well with touchdown receptions. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky showed his accuracy with a 20-yard pass to the sideline for wide receiver K.J. Hamler who made a dive to secure the catch.
The Bills defense countered the offense's big plays with multiple stops in the team periods. The unit recorded several quarterback pressures, one tip, some pass break ups, an interception and a sack. The sack came from defensive end Javon Solomon, exploding off the edge low and fast to make the play.
Pressures from defensive ends Joey Bosa and rookie Landon Jackson on separate plays kept the quarterbacks on their toes.
Toward the end of practice, defensive back Wande Owens showed his awareness on a play where he sat in the zone, popped out a tad too late, but still tipped the ball to force an incompletion.
Defensive back Tre'Davious White also had a strong day as he found great breaks on the ball and positioned himself to knock the pass away several times.
Defensive back Cam Lewis had the only interception of the day. During the final team period, strong pressure from Solomon forced an early throw that Lewis had his eyes on. He dove to catch the pass, tucked, and rolled. Lewis immediately popped up hype about the play and celebrated with his teammates.
3 — Christian Benford's quiet confidence shines at Bills Camp
Sometimes we all just need someone that will sit down and listen to us. Freely expressing the ups and downs of life to a person you trust is a hallmark of a good relationship. For fourth-year Bills cornerback Christian Benford, that's how he's approached relationships with his teammates since entering the league.
"I always made sure I was open-armed, open-minded," Benford shared. "I was just making sure anybody could come to me with any problems, any worries, I could be your ear, that if you want to express yourself in any type of manner or way. Cool. I'm here just to listen, because some people just need somebody to listen to, rather than just giving them advice."
Following his best season yet, Benford earned a four-year contract extension, one of the many recent draft picks to get a second deal in Buffalo. With Benford' rise into the stratosphere of the league's elite corners, his teammates see the same person who wants to connect with every teammate on a deeper level.
"CB has always been who he is, like even behind the scenes when you know the attention wasn't always coming his way," safety Damar Hamlin said. "He puts the work in first and just hearing him step up more into a leadership role… and spread his message of his approach to the game and of his process. I think it's what we need right now."
Benford, who's unabashed about his faith, explained what he has prioritized during the last two weeks of training camp.
"I've just been working on technique, fundamentals, just making sure I'm sharp from Play 1 to the end of the practice. Just making sure my mental is strong, and all in all, making sure I'm doing the Lord's work, making sure I am spreading Jesus' light through me and to others," he said.
Benford has been among the steadiest players at Bills Camp. He rarely gets beat on a play, and if he does, the corner gets right back to the line eager to erase his mistake.
"Just keep leveling up myself, not comparing to nobody else," Benford said of how he can continue to grow. "Just, as a player, being a coach on the field, being way more technically sound. I would say that would be my next step as a player."
