The Buffalo Bills will begin their 2020 training camp Monday morning at One Bills Drive in Orchard Park. Well, sort of.
They've actually been at camp already, officially, since July 28. However, they haven't been able to have any full-padded practices yet, and any football work they've done has been with plenty of limitations.
In fact, the first four days of camp was strictly COVID-19 testing. The next two days (Aug. 1 and 2) were for physicals. Players didn't even hit the field until Aug. 3, and from there, the last 14 days have been a lot of strength and conditioning work on the field and in the weight room, with scaled down on-field work and walk-throughs.
All of that changes on Monday.
Of course, it won't be the same as in pervious years. Fans won't be allowed to attend, and the team will be practicing at their home facility in Orchard Park instead of their usual training camp spot of St. John Fisher College in Rochester. However, practices themselves should resemble what training camp usually looks like. Full pads are allowed, although there will be a three-day period before full contact is permitted.
On the first day, players will be allowed to practice for a total of 90 minutes, with a 15-minute daily increase, up to 2.5 hours of maximum on-field work. The league is officially referring to this last phase as the "Contact Integration Period," which lasts through Sept. 6, but with a maximum of 14 padded practices and two days off over those 20 days.
Roster:
The Bills currently have 81 players on their roster, the maximum allowed. That includes running back Christian Wade, who is exempt for the 80-man roster limit as part of the league's International Pathways Program.
Here's a look at the team's roster as of the eve of their first padded practice:
Here is the Bills roster, by position, headed into their first padded practice of training camp Monday morning, and the start of the final phase of camp: pic.twitter.com/HN65Gydzk9
— Sal Capaccio -- (@SalSports) August 16, 2020Follow me on Twitter: @SalSports
