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Orchard Park, NY – When the Buffalo Bills lost Jake Kumerow last season after the New Orleans Saints removed him from their practice squad, Sean McDermott said he was missing.
“Just in the locker room, the team vibe, so having the chance to get him back here was a great opportunity for us,” McDermott said earlier this week. “I think he’s off to a great start at camp.
Kumerow made the most of his opportunities last season with the Bills, showing what he can do in special teams and then making a highlight with his only goal of the season. The 29-year-old played against the Denver Broncos in December and caught a 22-yard touchdown pass. It was enough for the Saints to catch him before releasing him later. He found his way back to the Bills and stayed this offseason because of how much he loved him in Buffalo.
Now battling for a spot in a talented receiving hall, Kumerow has been the group’s biggest point guard behind Stefon Diggs since training camp started last week. He made some big catches and rose to the challenge against some of the Bills’ best defensive backs.
Thursday, the Bills were in hulls and Emmanuel Sanders was not training due to a foot injury. It meant Kumerow had more opportunities to show off what he could do – and he looked like a superstar. It’s important to remember that we’re talking practice here, but when it comes to that the former Green Bay Packer was exceptional.
The Bills started things off with a one-on-one between the receiver and the defensive back in training and Kumerow had to draw the straw. He faced Tre’Davious White on both of his courses. The first was a go ball and Josh Allen threw a beautiful, deep ball that gave Kumerow a shot near the goal line. White was draped over him but Kumerow fought to the point of capture, managed to catch him and defeated him for the win. A few plays later, he changed it up and executed a quick break route and dived to bring it back as a frustrated White returned to the defensive sideline.
Kumerow then made three catches in team drills. The first was a nice ball from Allen and the second was one of the best games of the day in teamwork. He beat the cover on the straight sideline and Mitch Trubisky put in a nice pass that almost went for a big touchdown.
Coming into the camp, it was Isaiah Hodgins who seemed to be the favorite for a sixth place wide receiver if the Bills keep that much, but Kumerow has taken the lead in this competition. What’s more interesting at this point is whether Kumerow is not only part of the squad, but if he has won some playing time in a crowded room. He might even push Gabriel Davis for snaps if he continues playing through the preseason. Stay tuned.
Here are some other observations from practice.
Dawson Knox drops a big one
Trubisky had another solid day as the former Chicago Bear continues to look like a huge improvement over Matt Barkley from a season ago in the reserve quarterback. His best throw of the day, however, fell incomplete when he threw a deep ball at a wide-open Dawson Knox, who beat both defenders in the zone and had nothing in front of him for an easy touchdown.
But he let it down.
The fall issue for Knox continues to be a problem. He went out of his way this offseason to try and fix the problem by hiring a vision specialist and flying to California to work with Allen every day. He had a crash early in camp but was mostly reliable, even catching a touchdown during open practice at the stadium. Jacob Hollister came out with a back injury but returned and trained during individual work today. It’ll be interesting to see where it fits once it’s ready to go all out.
Allen / Diggs / Beasley in mid-season form
Allen was on point again Thursday as he has been for most of camp. Cole Beasley’s crosses were there and a pitch to Stefon Diggs was just unfair. Diggs got in his way and behind Taron Johnson who tried to retrieve him. Diggs stopped on a dime and Allen almost knew how he was improvising. So the QB pulled him the other way, separating Johnson and AJ Epenesa. Diggs grabbed him and immediately turned to the field for a monster gain.
Without Dion Dawkins, the Bills sometimes struggled to keep Allen pressure-free during camp. Jon Feliciano missed a day and there just wasn’t any stability. But the line did a decent job protecting Thursday and Allen would have had a few other huge plays but narrowly missed Diggs on a go ball in the end zone and another to Gabriel Davis, just past Levi Wallace’s outstretched arms. , but the second-year catcher was unable to transport it.
Best practice of Tremaine Edmunds camp
Edmunds was all over the field on Thursday, directing traffic, active against running plays and performing against passing plays. On Allen’s first pass of the day, he missed a pitch to Beasley and Edmunds picked it up and ran it a few yards in the other direction. Another big game came on a pitch at Diggs. Edmunds found it and used his speed to cover and then force the incompletion. Edmunds had at least one interception on his hands earlier in the camp, but if he can start making those kinds of plays, that defense gets even better.
Joe Giles-Harris Keeps Playing
Giles-Harris had a great interception in the spring and started to make a name for himself as a playmaker in linebacker. He almost forced a pick early in practice when Davis Webb threw a bad pass and Giles-Harris tipped him over, but Damar Hamlin couldn’t bring him back. He later finally got Webb, intercepting a pass from the former Texas Tech caller. Giles-Harris also recovered from a fumble when Lance Lenior caught a pass and lost the ball when he lost a spike while running.
It was a tough day for backup QBs in general who weren’t called Trubisky. Jake Fromm was intercepted on a pass intended for tight end Quinton Morris by rookie safety Tariq Thompson.
Darryl Johnson Jr. rush of big time
There haven’t been a ton of noticeable rushing attempts from defensive end Darry Johnson this camp, but he got things going on Thursday with an impressive performance against tackle Bobby Hart. He missed it on the outside and probably gets a sack in a match situation.
Johnson has an uphill battle for a spot on the list with all new faces in his post. Fortunately, he is an important special teams player and Heath Farwell has explained why he is so important there.
“He’s a huge man who runs on kickoffs, who runs as fast as the linebackers. He’s a guy who often teams up in doubles, because you can’t block him alone. When you assign two guys to one guy, it just frees up another guy from our cover group, ”Farwell said. “He’s covered so many kicks, he folds as well as anyone. He has a great understanding of blocking patterns. His ability to cover on the kickoff, on the punt, he plays a good tackle for me, he protects really well. He has a good grasp of all the rushes he’s going to get, then covers the pitch. You don’t see big guys running around the field like that.
Injuries and other notes
Christian Wade left training with a shoulder injury and guard Forrest Lamp did not train with a calf injury. Devin Singletary looked good on a few keys of the day. He seems more explosive than ever, especially on a catch and run which was helped by a boulder downstream from Mitch Morse. On a nice long passing game from Zack Moss, Morse and Ike Boettger provided some downstream blocks to help make it a big win.
The cornerback battle was fun to watch, but Levi Wallace had the best camp after seven practices. He was a little harassed today but it was mostly short passes. Dane Jackson had his best practice from camp, recording a tight pass break and covering well in several other instances.
READ MORE
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