Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - It was called "The Return of the Blue and Red" for the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Friday evening. And did the fans ever return and welcome their team back home for one night of training camp.
35,911 was the official attendance announced by the team, which is pretty remarkable for a Friday practice in early August, and still many who were there say it felt like even a lot more than that.
“You say it’s about 35,000, I say it’s about 45,000, for real,” said left tackle Dion Dawkins after Friday's practice.
Among Friday's crowd were plenty of kids. After the practice, most of the players stayed on the field and signed autographs, some for well over an hour.
When it came to fan favorites, obviously Josh Allen got a huge roar when he walked out of the tunnel, and he surprised the crowd by wearing a new red helmet. However, that won’t be used for the team this season.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs and defensive end Von Miller also got huge ovations as they entered the field.
The team ran through their normal practice drills and then did a lot more 11-on-11 than usual for the big crowd on a gorgeous, warm night.
Some notable highlights were Devin Singletary busting off a long run early-on and rookie wide receiver Khalil Shakir making a beautiful touchdown grab from quarterback Case Keenum.
Allen found Gabriel Davis for a short touchdown and then Dawson Knox for another later. Knox made a terrific contested catch in the corner of the end zone.
There were plenty of times where Allen took off on either a designed run or scramble. Obviously, there's no contacting the quarterback, so the play was blown dead as soon as a defender was near, but Allen also slid or got out of bounds in those situations.
Defensive end Greg Rousseau got to Allen for, what would have been, a sack in live action.
Miller got a veteran rest day and didn't see the field for any of the scrimmage action.
The team will return to St. John Fisher University for their next practice on Sunday at 11:45 a.m. ET.
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