SLANTS AND SCREENS
When Taylor wiped out Tuesday's live action, it delayed the return of defensive tackle and team leader B.J. Hill, managing a foot injury this spring and summer so he could get to this point. Since the starters aren't playing in Saturday's preseason finale (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) at Paycor Stadium against the Colts, Hill can get his live debut in Thursday.
"Shout out to the trainers for getting me ready," Hill said. "I'm in good conditioning. I've stayed in shape. Now it's just a matter of getting into football shape and that's no problem. I've got two weeks of great practice." …
Hill watched the first defense on Monday night struggle with run fits, allowing 106 yards on six carries in their seven-play set, and says it can get fixed.
"Everything's fixable. It's not week one yet," Hill said. "As the game went on, we did get it fixed. No matter if it's vanilla or not, those runs never should have got out. Easy fixes." …
Wilson was in the middle of it and he believes the competitive practices against one of the best offenses in the league are more indicative of his defense. He also says new defensive coordinator Al Golden's scheme is going to look a lot different once there is a game plan in place.
"It's not what you want to see, but at the end of the day, we're not really running anything we're going to run," Wilson said. "They had some schemed plays that were not good for what we were in … I'm not making any excuses. We can always play better, but it's not necessarily something I'm really worried about."
Golden has made sure the flavor of August has been vanilla and Wilson thinks once the toppings are on, it's a new game.
"We're limited in what we're trying to do. There's a lot of stagnancy to it," Wilson said. "So in terms of the offensive line and who you're targeting pre-snap, post-snap, it's easier for them to know who to block. Things like that. When you get into a real game plan, they get a lot more complex." …
Zac Taylor had relatively good news on the injury front Wednesday. Except on backup left tackle Cordell Volson. Taylor said he's out for 0the year with an injured shoulder, a tough injury for a tough man. Until he was benched late in his third season last year, he had yet to miss a snap …
But from the current injured list, Volson appears to be the only out for the Sept. 7 opener in Cleveland.
Taylor said the injury to starting right guard Lucas Patrick Monday night isn't as bad as first feared. He basically put him in a day-to-day category, as he did edge Myles Murphy, wide receiver Jermaine Burton, tight end Mike Gesicki, and cornerback DJ Turner II …
Backup center Matt Lee, who has yet to play in the preseason games, worked Wednesday …