On Friday, for the first time since they lost at Kansas City in the AFC championship game, we will get to see Buffalo Bills players wearing Buffalo Bills helmets being led by Buffalo Bills coaches on a Buffalo Bills practice field.
Draft picks, signed undrafted free agents and tryout invitees will participate in rookie minicamp, their first chance to see how coach Sean McDermott wants things done, how defensive coordinator Bobby Babich鈥檚 voice carries over two fields and how each player stacks up against his new (or temporary) teammates.
Translation: 鈥橳is the season for overreactions both positive (Player X will for sure make the team and don鈥檛 tell me otherwise!) and negative (Player Y has no chance and don鈥檛 tell me otherwise!).
Last spring, Joe Andreessen was a top story of Buffalo Bills rookie camp, going from tryout player to signed contract. This year鈥檚 Bills rookies start camp this weekend.
My modus operandi for you, the fans who won鈥檛 be able to watch, and myself, who will get to watch one workout, is to set modest expectations when you read our coverage and pour over the breathless social media missives.
People are also reading…
The players won鈥檛 be in pads.
The players will have just a few hours of meeting time to learn the selected plays.
And the players haven鈥檛 practiced in helmets since at least January.
The goals set by the Bills鈥 coaches will also be practical, which reminded me of my favorite rookie camp story. I was walking out to the field (pretty sure it was in Jacksonville) and asked an assistant coach what he wanted to get out of the first practice.
The coach laughed.
鈥淲e just spent the first part of the meeting showing these guys where to line up for stretch,鈥 he said.
We both laughed.
Nothing else emphasizes how this weekend is just the beginning for most of these players.
The easiest part will be finding their way from the locker room to the practice field. Fellas, see that doorway between the lockers of long snapper Reid Ferguson and left guard David Edwards? Take that straight across the indoor field and through the sets of double doors.
Everything else could be difficult, and should be difficult, and needs to be difficult, because placing stress 鈥 but not outright mind-cramping anxiety 鈥 on a rookie鈥檚 shoulders is often the best way for him to improve. For the coaches, it will be teach and refine, correct and remind, observe and encourage.
Their football knowledge retention will be tested (can they remember what they just learned?). Their conditioning will be measured (can they stay on the field for a long set of snaps?) And their doubt level will likely be as high as the new stadium鈥檚 canopy across the street (what am I supposed to do?).
But what an opportunity for the nine draft picks 鈥 not so much this weekend, but as the spring progresses and that鈥檚 the main reason to pay attention to the goings-on. The Bills need some of these guys to play right away and play well right away 鈥 there is no overdramatization in that statement.
Can first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston begin to pour the foundation that will lead him to a Week 1 starting assignment? The Bills need him to.
Can second- and third-round defensive tackles T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker be instant rotational players? The Bills need them to be.
Can fifth-round defensive back Jordan Hancock start his road to winning the nickel/safety hybrid spot over Cam Lewis, or to show enough at safety to challenge Damar Hamlin for a top reserve spot? The Bills need the roster management versatility.
And further down the draft board, can fifth-round tight end Jackson Hawes 鈥 sans pads 鈥 show he can handle the blocking responsibilities, thereby allowing offensive coordinator Joe Brady and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer to start thinking about a traditional 鈥12鈥 (two-tight end) package instead of jumbo (a sixth offensive lineman, Alec Anderson, who ran no routes last year)? The Bills need to introduce that to their game plan.
Similarly, what an opportunity for the undrafted free agents who are expected to sign once they arrive in town, and the tryout players who will join practice.
Remember, Joe Andreessen, ex of Lancaster High School and the University at Buffalo, went from weekend tryout player to signed contract to full-season spot on the 53-man roster. Who can be this year鈥檚 Joe? Let鈥檚 hope there is the same kind of success story this year.
The goal for the rookies this week is to show they can be quick studies (the NFL playbook installation process stops for nobody) and go from the Land of Relevance (they鈥檙e relevant or they wouldn鈥檛 be here) to the ranks of Need To Be Noticed (and have a role in 2025).
鈥淭here鈥檚 a long time between now and the first game (in September) and it will be interesting to see how it comes together,鈥 McDermott said last week. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see, right? It鈥檚 truly a process that will (start) unfolding when we get them here (for rookie camp) and taking it one day at a time.鈥
Heed the head coach鈥檚 philosophy. One day at a time for these rookies, starting this weekend.
