Buffalo’s offense carried the Bills at times last season. That same unit got off to a slow start in Thursday’s preseason opener, leading coach Chan Gailey to stress a sense of urgency when the Bills returned to the practice field Saturday night.
“We had an offensive meeting today about that very thing,” Gailey said. “We made progress last year, but it’s not just going to happen because we did it last year. You’ve got to go make it happen again this year.”
The offense showed some improvement Saturday but was not on par with some of its previous camp outings.
“I think we came out and practiced well,” Gailey said. “It wasn’t lights out, but you hope it’s not lights out against your defense.”
A main area of focus was the running game. The Bills didn’t attempt a running play when their starters were in the game Thursday, and they’ll try to make up for that this week.
“We have not run the ball as much as we wanted to in preseason, and we made this week the week we’re going to come back and work on the run game quite a bit,” Gailey said.
What else stood out: DT Kyle Williams was a one-man wrecking crew at the evening session. He was dominant up front and Buffalo’s offensive linemen had no answers for him. Kraig Urbik, in particular, had a rough night when matched against Williams. ... DE Kyle Moore also had a strong night rushing the passer. Moore is a sleeper to make the roster, but after practice Gailey stressed that he needs to improve at the other aspects of playing DE. ... Consistency remains an issue with QB Vince Young, but he connected with T.J. Graham in the end zone on a bullet over the middle with the clock expiring in a team drill. It was one of Young’s best throws of camp. ... WR Derek Hagan juked rookie Stephon Gilmore with a nice move on a WR screen. It was one of the few times Gilmore has been beaten cleanly. ... Rookie CB Ron Brooks had several pass breakups.
Injury updates: CB Terrence McGee (knee) received his most extensive workload of camp and participated in team drills. Same goes for DT Torell Troup (back), but Troup clearly isn’t back to 100 percent. He rode a stationary bike to stay loose when he wasn’t taking part in a drill. WR David Nelson (knee) returned to team drills but said after practice he’s also not back to full health. C Eric Wood (knee) and RT Erik Pears (groin/hernia) continue to do more team work each day. DL Spencer Johnson left practice early. Gailey said afterward Johnson has been dealing with a shoulder injury. It’s not believed to be serious. FB Corey McIntyre briefly left with a right hand injury but did return. LB Kelvin Sheppard (undisclosed) did not participate in team drills. CB Justin Rogers (hamstring), S Josh Nesbitt (undisclosed), TE Mike Caussin (knee) and TE Kevin Brock (undisclosed) did not practice.
What’s next: The Bills return to the field with a Sunday afternoon practice at 3 p.m. ET.
For more updates on the Bills follow correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLBUF and@MarkLud12.
