Pittsford, NY -- You don't exactly have to be well-versed in the different nuances of NFL offenses to realize one thing through the first six days of practice at Buffalo Bills training camp. The second team offense has not been good, and that falls directly on the shoulders of vying backup quarterback candidates Tyler Thigpen and Vince Young.
"It's a little early, but it's a concern -- and it's not just Tyler," head coach Chan Gailey candidly said on Wednesday. "He and Vince both are having some trouble there. The two's in general are not performing well offensively. I think our one's are doing some good things, but our two's are struggling right now offensively."
The general inaccuracy of the backup quarterbacks brought on the discussion. Thigpen and Young have both missed passes that should be completed on a fairly regular basis. As the latter of the two options took the second team reps on Wednesday night, and didn't do anything to quell the coach's complaints.
Perhaps in congruence with those struggles was the solid performance of the Bills' secondary during the team's night practice at St. John Fisher College.
Reserve cornerback Prince Miller picked off two passes, while the safety group as a whole had an above average session.
"You take Jairus [Byrd], you take George [Wilson], and even Da'Norris [Searcy] is playing very well," Gailey said. "You take those three guys, they make up for a lot of ills that might happen. They cover a lot of basis for us back there."
The Bills had a pair of new non-participants in practice, with the most notable being starting middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. The second-year player had to sit out the end of mini-camp in June with an undisclosed injury, but got back to practice as training camp opened up in late July.
Once again, the Bills kept Sheppard's under wraps.
"He may be out a couple of days. We'll see," Gailey said. "He's got a situation that he's dealing with. It's medical, and that's all I'm gonna say about it right now."
The Bills had six other players that did not practice during the night session. David Nelson, Justin Rogers, Kellen Heard, Josh Nesbitt, Kamar Aiken and Mike Caussin all didn't go through the workout.
The Bills get back to work on Thursday afternoon, beginning practice at 3 pm at St. John Fisher College. That session is open to the public.
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