Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Coming off their first preseason game on Saturday, the Buffalo Bills practiced on Sunday before getting Monday off.
Sean McDermott spoke to the media before practice and provided an update regarding injuries to the roster.
"Damien Harris will not practice today, but is heading in a good direction," said McDermott on Monday. "Cam Lewis will not practice today, we’ll see where that goes within the next couple of days. Reggie [Gilliam] will be out there we think this week. D.J., good news from the reports last night. So D.J. Dale, as well as Tommy [Doyle], both were more just contusions than anything."
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The Bills took linebacker Dorian Williams in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Tulane University. When he first got here, he was getting reps at middle linebacker, but has since played and will stay outside. McDermott did like Williams' play in his first NFL action on Saturday.
"I thought he was very physical," McDermott said of the rookie. "We have plenty to work on, as does Dorian, but I thought he did a good job with playing fast and physical. You can build off of things like that."
Things have been uneven for Khalil Shakir both this spring and summer. He certainly didn’t help Kyle Allen’s cause when he dropped a third down pass that would’ve given the Bills a first down in the second quarter. That came after he made a good catch on a 3rd-and-12, gaining 20 yards and a first down. McDermott knows the second-year wideout needs to be better.
"The one over the middle on the third-and-long conversation was very impressive, but he wants that drop back," he said. "But I have a lot of confidence in him, and he’s usually pretty sure-handed."
Tyrel Dodson got the start in preseason game No. 1 at middle linebacker. Terrel Bernard couldn’t play due to injury, and McDermott says Dodson had a good start.
"I thought he did some good things, it was his first time recently out there with the ones. I thought he controlled the defense, and made the plays he was supposed to make," McDermott said of the fifth-year veteran.
Dane Jackson got the start at cornerback opposite Tre White. After that, Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford got into the lineup.
Jackson intercepted rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson on the Indianapolis Colts' first drive of the game. Did that give him a leg up on the competition?
"Yes and no," McDermott answered. "Dane just got a few plays in that first series and then made the interception. Then the other two got significantly more playing time, and we wanted to evaluate them with that. We have yet to meet as an overall staff to set the vision for this week, so as of today, it’ll stay like it was yesterday. We’ll get together tomorrow to set who we need to see, and how much of each of those guys we need to see."
The one aspect of Saturday's game that was a problem against the Colts were penalties. That’s something that really gets to the head coach.
"We had eight penalties total yesterday. Some of those are aggressive penalties, but some of those are penalties that are definitely within our control," McDermott said.
The Bills' next preseason game is Saturday in Pittsburgh against the Steelers for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
