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| WEEK IN REVIEW - APRIL 23RD - APRIL 29TH, 2001 | PREVIOUS WEEK |
Bills Hold Three Day Mini Camp
On Tuesday the Bills signed 18 undrafted free agents. Among them was a fourth quarterback, four wide receivers and two punters. They also signed on fullback who was in camp with them last summer. On the offensive line, tow tackles and a center were signed along with two defensive linemen and a long snapper. Our Take: There are some intriguing free agents including Tim Hasselbeck, who we think could stick as the third quarterback. David Dinkins was a record setting div. 1-AA quarterback who will get a look at safety. Jay Taylor is a punter who is also a long range kickoff guy. Ryan Diepenbrock could stick if he is exceptional as a long snapper. The Bills held a mandatory mini camp over the weekend in which conditioning was stressed by Gregg Williams. Many of the rookies were far behind the veterans in conditioning and they will have to work hard on it before the June camp. Williams called the camp "a pretty good three days." The coaches continued to install the offensive, defensive, and special teams systems during the mini camp that was very detailed oriented. Rob Johnson had a very impressive camp as he has been locking himself in the film room learning the offense. Nate Clements struggled a bit until picking off a pass on Saturday. Williams said he's not ready to be a starter at this point. Four players missed the workouts because of injuries, Jay Riemersma, John Fina, Ruben Brown, and Robert Hicks. Our Take: It was nice to see a highly conditioned, detail oriented run mini camp that can only get the players more ready to play games late in the season. Williams was honest with his assessment of the rookies, that should only get them more motivated to get ready for the long haul. There was an interesting guest at Friday's workout as free agent fullback Larry Centers was in town and watching the practice from the sidelines in street clothes. He left without a contract but Williams said he is the perfect fullback for the west coast offense. The Bills have acknowledged interest in free agent defensive end Mike Mamula. The cap situation will probably only let them sign one of them. Our Take: Since Centers was in town and Williams glowed about him expect him to sign with the Bills. The fact that the club didn't draft a fullback and only brought one in as a free agent also lends to support that argument. Clements spoke to the media upon his arrival in Buffalo on Thursday he seemed excited to be back with Antoine Winfield. He hopes to challenge for the starting job and talked about the decision to turn pro after his junior year. Our Take: Clements was humbled a bit in minicamp but should be a solid contributor as a rookie, most likely as a nickel back and backup corner to Ken Irvin. Tom Donahoe and Gregg Williams addressed the fans on Tuesday during a meeting of the Bills booster club. They both complemented each other, Donahoe said Williams will be a future star in this league and is the right person to lead the Bills into the future. Donahoe tried to rally the fans saying he needs them to be as rabid as they have been in the past. Both men raved about the attendance in the off season conditioning program. Our Take: It's nice that the powers at be are very interested in what the fans think. Donahoe also answered e-mails from the fans on the official website. He spoke about the draft and the fact that Clements was targeted all along. He reiterated that Bill Conaty was the man at center if he can win the job and that Jerry Ostroski will play guard. He had praise for rookie Jonas Jennings saying he may get a look at Center also. Our Take: It seems they really think Conaty can do the job as the starting center since they didn't pick one early in the draft. Steve Christie was in town on Monday and spoke to the media regarding his new contract. He said he re-signed with the Bills because of his desire to retire a member of the Bills. He feels things are headed in the right direction to get the club back in the Super Bowl. Another reason he stayed was because when he visited, he was assured that the special teams ill be better. He said he doesn't mind if a kickoff specialist. Our Take: The desire to bring the special teams back to the way it was in the past was helped by bringing Christie back.Talk about it on The Stadium Wall
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