Olean Times Herald

‘Four wideouts could then be competing for one spot: Robert Foster, Isaiah McKenzie, Duke Williams and sixth-round draft choice Isaiah Hodgins. The Bills like Hodgins and might be reluctant to waive him and risk losing the rookie before he could be added to the practice squad. Williams qualifies for that option, Foster and McKenzie don’t.’

‘Clearly, the NFL didn’t want to stand in the way of teams from fan-permissive states recouping some of their Covid-19 losses … but it did so at the expense of competitive balance.’

‘There are 30 stadiums in the league, with two of them shared: the Giants and Jets at MetLife in East Rutherford, N.J. and the Rams and Chargers at SoFi in Inglewood, Calif. Twenty-five of those facilities have sold naming rights, headed by the Cowboys who get between $17 and $19 million annually from AT&T.’

‘This year’s Buffalo mantra, with the addition of Diggs, the return of John Brown and Cole Beasley at wideout and a running game of rising star Devin Singletary and Moss, has been “Now Josh Allen has no excuses.”’

‘“We’ve got to come up with various ways to create competition and some situations (that come up) in games … high impact, high pressure moments the best we can make them. We’re not in pads yet (it’s not allowed until Monday), but as we get closer to that first game we’re going to have to try, when we have to cut this roster down, to come up with as many ways to simulate preseason games. Whether it’s seeing how many snaps they played last year in preseason versus some live snaps we have in practice or any types of scrimmage or intrasquad scrimmages we may do.”’

‘“Certainly I would like to have preseason games, but it’s been done before. Maybe not always in the NFL, but colleges do it or something similar every year. So I’ve reached out to my college coach and he certainly had a lot of success, and we’ve got a lot of smart people in this building that have come from a lot of different backgrounds that can help. I’m confident that we’ll adjust (and) that our players will adjust and we’ll have a good plan in place to get our team ready to go.”’

‘And even I, skepticism aside, have revised my record for the Bills to 9-7 and with the NFL’s expanded playoff format, that should be just enough to get them in.’

‘And though “camp” begins today, it’s a bit of a misnomer. Players report for Covid-19 testing and physicals and McDermott will not be available to the media until Sunday as there’s really nothing to report.’

‘“That’s key to our success, player-driven leadership that you’ve heard me talk about before,” McDermott said. “For me to sit up here and bang the podium with not enough player leadership is not going to get us where we need to be and the players are aware of that.”’

‘But the reality is, it’s long been accepted that two exhibitions is plenty. As it is now, starters play only one or two series in the preseason opener and not at all in the finale.’

‘The Bills were listed at 13/10 odds to end that streak this coming season with the Pats tabbed for second at 17/10. But with the signing of Newton, as of Monday, both Buffalo and New England are viewed as a toss-up to claim the AFC East, at 13/10.’

‘“Terry and Kim have, to me, modeled that they are committed to winning,” McDermott said. “I can’t comment on what goes on at the Sabres (but) I can comment on what goes on here and that is, I see every day, not only from what they communicate to me and Brandon (Beane, general manager) but also what they do … their investment here in the Bills (is unquestioned). They are committed to winning and that’s really all I can go off of is my experience.”’

‘Yet I know full well, in buying the Bills and Sabres, the teams of which he was a lifelong fan, he felt he was doing absolutely the right thing for Western New York.’

‘“That’s the goal every week,” Daboll said of increased scoring. “Offensive football is assignment football and execution football. You have to get as many reps as you can to perfect the craft you need.”‘

‘Of Allen, specifically, Daboll said, “He’s our quarterback, but you can’t force leadership. You can improve it. You can learn about it. You can grow from it. But Josh has innate leadership qualities that guys gravitate towards, and he understands his role on the team … being one of the guys, being there for the players around him, helping them with the system, getting them together so that you can build that team chemistry, (it’s) not all about football.”’