7 Observations from the Buffalo Bills second last day of training camp

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (WKBW — And then there was just one day left! On Wednesday the Buffalo Bills had their second last practice of training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.

Below you can find observations from the 7 Sports team from Wednesday's practice:

• As has been the case for the majority of the second half of training camp the defense had the stronger day. Josh Allen and company had a few flashes, but the defense was more consistently making plays. The defensive line was dominant when Dion Dawkins left practice with a trainer halfway through practice. When Dawkins left, Ryan Van Denmark replaced him with the Bills starting group. Dawkins never returned to the field after leaving practice. 
• KJ Hamler has been getting more usage during the last week. He’s still got an uphill battle to leapfrog Tyrell Shavers who had a great start to camp, but Hamler’s role on special teams could help be a tiebreaker. For what it’s worth, which isn’t a ton, Hamler was on the Bills first depth chart as their top kick and punt returner. Hamler had several catches on Wednesday including a touchdown during red-zone work at the end of practice. 
• Tyler Bass had a rocky day missing multiple field goals. It has been a fairly quiet camp for Bass, but Wednesday wasn’t as consistent as the Bills need him to be. Bass was six for eight on the day with two misses from around 50 yards. 
• James Cook had two instances where he had the ball popped out of his hands on Wednesday. The first came on what would’ve been a touchdown on a pretty pass from Allen to Cook. As the running back was running into the end zone he had the ball punched out of his hands by Christian Benford. It looked like Cook had broken the plane of the end zone but from my vantage point, it was hard to know for sure. Later in practice, Cook had another catch that was punched out of his hands by Damar Hamlin. This play would’ve been a fumble in a game. There isn’t any reason to press the panic button with Cook, but something to monitor, especially combined with a few notable drops during camp. 
• As for Ray Davis, he had another nice day. His usage with the first-team offense and praise from Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady shouldn’t be overlooked. With Ty Johnson still sidelined Davis has emerged as the front-runner to get the second most snaps behind Cook. 
• Von Miller is continuing to flash. Miller had some strong reps against Spencer Brown during team drills. Miller’s best day of camp came last week when the team worked primarily on 3rd and long situations, but has had a few strong outings since then including Wednesday.