ORCHARD PARK - Now that Week 1 of the regular season is in sight, Buffalo Bills coach Joe Brady was asked Tuesday about the enormous challenge he’ll be facing in his debut game Sept. 13 against the ferocious defense of the Houston Texans.
“If I'm being honest right now, we still have two weeks for that,” Brady said, opting to hold off on discussing the opponent that has created so much trouble for Brady as a play-caller and Josh Allen at quarterback the last two times the Bills played in Houston.
Can’t blame him for wanting to put off thinking too much about one of the NFL’s elite defenses, a unit that last season sacked Allen eight times and intercepted him twice on the way to a 23-19 victory over the Bills. And the year before when Allen completed
just 9 of 30 passes in a 23-20 loss.
“Right now we're still going Buffalo on Buffalo, and it’s still our opportunity to figure out kind of where we're at right now,” Brady said of the next few training camp-style practices the Bills will conduct this week before entering regular-season mode on Monday. “It's our first time going out there with this 53 and putting it together with the practice squad guys. So next week it'll kind of take care of itself. Right now we got to make sure our guys are still focusing on the Buffalo Bills.”
Here are a few things that Brady and president/GM Brandon Beane had to say when they met reporters Tuesday:
Youth and depth at cornerback isn’t a concern
That’s what Beane said, though he added, “as long as we stay healthy.”
One of the surprises of roster cutdown day is that the Bills are going with just three boundary corners in Christian Benford, Max Hairston and Davison Igbinosun. All summer, it has felt like the Bills have needed to add a free agent veteran to the mix, but for now, Beane is happy with the group.
“I feel really good about what's on the 53,” he said. “Obviously Christian speaks for himself. I'm excited about Max, IGB, and Dee Alford.”
Alford is why Beane, at least so far, hasn’t added a veteran corner. He has shown the ability both in Atlanta the previous four years and now here in Buffalo to push outside if need be. And if that is needed, the Bills believe Jordan Hancock can take over in Alford’s spot in the slot.
“That's the great thing about Dee, he is our starting nickel, but Jordan Hancock's done a nice job,” Beane said. “If we feel like we need to move Dee outside for an injury or whatever's going on, we can do that as well. Cam Lewis did that for us for a number of years, can play multiple spots, and that helps you on game day.”
Inside linebacker could be a time share
Bernard is solidified as one starter, but it seems like Dorian Williams and Kaleb Elarms-Orr are still neck and neck for the other position, though what might end up happening is the two share the position based on matchups.
“We love our guys that we have and Dorian, this is his first chance as well, competing with him to start,” Beane said. “Obviously, TB nicked up a little bit, hoping to get him back to full health, hopefully before game one, we'll see. Assuming he can go, then you got those two guys competing for that other spot.”
Beane has been captivated by Elarms-Orr’s relentless pursuit of knowledge and the seriousness of his personality.
“This game's not played in t-shirts and shorts,” Beane said, commenting on the good impression Elarms-Orr made in the spring when he was getting starter reps as both Bernard and Williams missed time. “Does it translate when we get the pads on? And to his credit, he's come in very serious-minded. He's not looking to stop by the coffee shop and just talk. He's just here for one thing, he's here to play ball, study ball, learn from his teammates and his peers, and he wants to be respected by his peers.”
Greg Dortch could be a useful addition
One of the potentially impactful transactions Beane made Monday was signing wide receiver/punt returner Greg Dortch to the practice squad. And if he shows something in the next several days of practice before the Bills fly down to Houston, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he earns a spot on the 53-man roster because punt return is an area of need.
“I think we’ve got some guys that can do it,” Beane said. “You’re looking at what roles they’re playing, whether it’s Khalil Shakir, Dee Alford, guys like that. Ray (Davis), we’ve obviously given some opportunities. I know he had the one muff, still something we’re working with him on, and we brought in Greg Dortch yesterday, added him to the practice squad.
“He’s had a lot of success as a dual returner in the league. We have options. I can’t tell you who’s going to line up Week 1 yet. We’re kind of sorting through that as we go into the next couple of weeks.
Joe Brady said the fact that wide receivers coach Drew Terrell and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers were both with Dortch in Arizona the past few seasons was important in the evaluation.
“Whenever you get into these situations where there's guys available, and you have connections and relationships with them, it does make life easier,” Brady said. “And they both obviously had really good things to say. We evaluated him in free agency going into this past year. Obviously, if there wasn't good things to be said, he probably wouldn't be here.”
Bringing Shaq Thompson back was easy decision
Thompson was a key member of Buffalo’s defense last season, joining the team after spending his first 10 NFL seasons with the Panthers, his time overlapping the end of Beane’s employment with Carolina.
Beane admitted he had been in contact throughout the offseason, and while he didn’t come right out and say it, there was a hint that signing Thompson was the plan all along once the grind of training camp was over.
“Ultimate pro, unbelievable leader, the guy can just step in,” Beane said. “He's super smart, hard worker, he's got that presence to him. Some of our coaches on the defensive side that had not met him, he got in here last night, and they were like, ‘Man, I've seen this guy from afar. I'm just blown away in 10 minutes talking to him.’”
Thompson will get familiar with the new defense and get himself into football shape in the next couple weeks and while he probably won’t be active for Game 1, he’s going to provide nice insurance in case the Bills suffer a spate of injuries at inside linebacker.
“What he can bring off the field is worth having him here,” Beane said. “You saw him fill in last season when we had injuries, whether it's (Terrel Bernard) or someone else. I think he's at the point in his career where it's probably smarter to not beat yourself up through a training camp. But we got to kind of ramp him up. You can't replicate football, so I don't know yet when Shaq would be kind of ready to roll. We'll take that kind of one week at a time.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 4 key takeaways from Bills coach, GM after final cuts
