Bills training camp: Cole Bishop injury leaves Buffalo thin at safety, and more (2024)

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills concluded their sixth practice of training camp, and just after the practice finished, one player was taken to the hospital for further medical attention.

Reserve offensive lineman Alec Anderson, who is in his third year with the organization, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for a heat-related incident. Tuesday’s weather at St. John Fisher University produced one of the hottest days of camp so far, and the Bills were just into their second fully padded workout of the summer. They concluded a two-hour practice shortly before the incident with Anderson occurred.

Quarterback Josh Allen, who was originally scheduled to speak with the media after practice, declined to do so after Anderson was taken to the hospital. Allen is known to have a very tight-knit relationship with his offensive linemen teammates.

The one player who did speak with the media afterward was Anderson’s teammate on the offensive line, left tackle Dion Dawkins

“The crazy thing is, it’s not as nerve-wracking as you would think because our staff that we have here is top tier. If they weren’t top tier, then I would be a nervous wreck,” Dawkins said within the hour that Anderson went to the hospital. “But because we’ve gone through some traumatic, traumatic incidents with this team and with things that have happened, I’m confident.”

The usually optimistic Dawkins remained that way for his teammate.

“Alec is a tough dude,” Dawkins said. “So regardless of what it is, Alec’s fighting, and he’ll be all right. And I’m hoping that he will.”

A couple of hours after heading to the hospital, the team sent a promising update saying Anderson is recovering.

“The Bills medical team, Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott spoke with Alec by phone a short time ago and he was in good spirits. He is expected to be released from the hospital later this afternoon.”

The Bills have an off day on Wednesday.

Although the team went through that scary moment post-practice, there were a lot of things we learned throughout the day. Here are several observations from Day 6 before the team’s day off.

More safety questions: rookie Cole Bishop leaves practice with injury

Without either Jordan Poyer or Micah Hyde on the roster, the Bills had a humongous question mark at safety coming into training camp. They had hoped to see the best of a three-man competition take on a starting role next to Taylor Rapp. But the injury bug has hit that competition hard over the last three practices. First, it was veteran Mike Edwards sustaining a hamstring injury on Sunday and being labeled by the team as “week-to-week” the next day. But on Tuesday, the team’s most promising option suffered an injury of his own.

Cole Bishop, a 2024 second-round pick in his rookie season, left in the middle of practice with an apparent injury and did not return. Bishop made a nice play on a team drill rep earlier in the day, and had also received some praise from McDermott Monday about how much the rookie safety improved between the spring workouts and the beginning of training camp. Bishop had two separate days with the first unit, and with those chances, has been the most impressive of the group vying for the role between him, Edwards and Damar Hamlin. Despite not having any update on Bishop’s status or injury timeline, he was spotted well after practice walking around in the area just outside of the locker room.

These two safety injuries, should Bishop’s cost him a legitimate amount of time, would put the Bills in a bit of a bind. It would leave Hamlin as the lone option on the current roster to start next to Rapp, but despite Hamlin drawing some praise this summer, they have kept the competition wide open. The team signed 36-year-old safety Kareem Jackson on Tuesday, though he only participated in individual drills for his first practice and likely isn’t going to be a big factor in the starting discussion anytime soon. Especially if Bishop’s injury is at all long term, it does beg the question of whether the starter next to Rapp is even on the roster yet.

The Bills have left the light on for longtime starter Micah Hyde as he continues to mull retirement without making an official decision. Beane said at the beginning of camp that Hyde is “staying ready,” though nothing between the Bills and Hyde appeared to be imminent at that time. The first step for the team is to see how long they may be without Bishop, and if it’s a similar distinction to Edwards, it might force their hand to bring in another player for the competition.

Khalil Shakir remains the steady force on offense

The Bills mixed and matched their receivers to work with Allen throughout the day — the most they have in camp to this point — with nine of the healthy 12 receivers taking at least one snap with the franchise quarterback during team drills. But when the team split in half, leaving the first-team offense and some subs to work against the first-team defense on the main field to narrow down the snaps a bit, that’s when Khalil Shakir continued to show what a trusted asset he is to Allen.

Shakir had one of the biggest plays of the day as the Bills were going through an end-of-game drill with just over a minute left on the clock. Rushing through each play, Shakir seeped past the second-level of defenders and found a soft spot over the middle for Allen to deliver a strike. Shakir turned it up the field and came away with a 28-yard gain to put the Bills on the brink of field goal range. He backed that up on the very next play with a simple three-yard catch toward the sidelines to stop the clock.

While it’s only one practice, it is definitely a reminder of how much Allen trusts Shakir in late-game situations. It began early in Shakir’s rookie season when he was the recipient of an Allen gem of a play late against the Ravens in 2022. That late-game trust continued last year when Shakir’s role grew to a nearly high-snap player. Now, without any other holdovers in the receiver room from 2023, the stage is set for the Shakir-Allen connection to continue. Shakir has been one of the most consistent, dependable players in camp. Days like Tuesday are a reminder of how important he is to the scope of the Bills offense in 2024.

Ja’Marcus Ingram continues to push for a roster spot

Through the first six practices in Pittsford, there hasn’t been much debate about who will be the starting cornerbacks. Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford have been the top two at the position and have been mainstays with the first-team defense. But past those two is an interesting name that is pushing to make the team outright — Ja’Marcus Ingram.

After spending the past two seasons in the Bills system on the practice squad, he is turning into a classic case of long-term defensive back development since McDermott became head coach. Ingram appears to be on a similar trajectory to what Cam Lewis just did. The 26-year-old from the University at Buffalo does a little bit of everything. He has the length and strength to play on the boundary, quickness to give reps at nickel corner if they need him to, along with being a special teams contributor. Ingram has been impressive during one-on-ones and team drills, which gives him a legitimate chance to make the roster this year. Whether or not it would be good enough to push for the primary backup cornerback duties depends on a big effort and some pitfalls from third-year cornerback Kaiir Elam. But at the very least, Ingram has turned himself into one of the most difficult roster decisions on the roster.

Kameron Cline puts himself firmly in the 53-man discussion, too

On Monday, we wrote about defensive ends Javon Solomon, Kinglsey Jonathan and Casey Toohill all stating a case to make the 53-man roster this year. And it’s probably time to add another to the list, too. Kameron Cline, who spent the 2023 season on the Bills practice squad, had one of the best practices of anyone on the field Tuesday. Cline had standout pass rushes throughout the practice. Early on in the day, he won both of his reps in a two-on-two pass-rushing drill, getting past sixth-round rookie Tylan Grable each time. Then in team drills, Cline was a nuisance in the backfield working on the second and third units. He zoomed past top reserve tackle Ryan Van Demark on one rep for a sack on one play, then on the very next rep, came away with another would-be sack in a quick victory over third-string lineman Gunner Britton. Cline is also chipping in on special teams units, which helps his case in a big way.

Additionally, he holds a big advantage over Jonathan and Toohill, the two players he’d be battling for a sixth defensive end spot if the Bills were to keep that many. The Bills would have only one year of roster control on Toohill with his contract, and Jonathan would be a restricted free agent after this season which could come with a likely raise. The 26-year-old Cline, on the other hand, would be cost-controlled for three seasons, on a two-year minimum contract before becoming an exclusive rights free agent in 2026, which would be another small contract for the team. Sometimes, those contract distinctions can be the tiebreaker in a close competition like this one. Either way, Cline has definitely been an eye-opener for the Bills this summer.

Martin the clear winner on Day 3 of #Puntapalooza2024

For the third time in six days, the Bills continued with their punting competition between veteran Sam Martin and undrafted rookie Jack Browning. The competition has been mostly even to this point, with each player barely winning a day. But on Tuesday, Martin took the lead merely through consistency. Martin’s hangtime and yardage remained consistent, while Browning, on his first opportunity of the day, shanked a punt out of bounds that went less than 20 yards, with a hangtime before crossing the out-of-bounds line of under two seconds. Browning recovered with some solid punts the rest of the day, but that one big misfire was enough to push the day, and overall competition, toward Martin. The Bills did give Browning his first opportunity in team drills to be the holder on some field goal attempts for Tyler Bass, to which the rookie looked smooth catching the ball and transitioning it for Bass to kick through it. Bass made all but one of his attempts.

(Top photo of Cole Bishop: Bryan Bennett / Getty Images)

Joe Buscaglia is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the Buffalo Bills. Joe has covered the team since 2010. He spent his first five years on the beat at WGR Sports Radio 550 and the next four years at WKBW-TV in Buffalo. A native of Hamburg, N.Y., Buscaglia is a graduate of Buffalo State College. Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeBuscaglia