The Buffalo Bills have concluded mandatory minicamp, which means just one thing: The quietest part of the NFL calendar is now upon us as we wait for training camp to begin in late July.
Don’t get me wrong, a little bit of downtime in the NFL calendar is a good thing for players, staff, beat reporters, and fans. That makes this the time of year where “no news is good news” when it comes to your favorite team. The last thing anyone wants to hear about are off-field troubles, fluke injuries, or unforeseen
accidents. We all remember the Nyheim Hines jet ski injury from three years ago, which is the type of news every fans wants to avoid in the offseason.
There’s plenty for Bills fans to look forward to heading toward training camp, which should make these next six weeks fly by. A return to St. John Fisher University always gets fans excited, as the team celebrates 25 years of training camp at their home-away-from-home. Soon enough we’ll be getting reports on the latest camp scuffles, highlights from undrafted free agents, and updates on our projected 53-man rosters.
This lull in the calendar usually has me clamoring for the first preseason game of the year —- which I usually regret about five minutes after kickoff. But this year will certainly be different, as preseason games will give Bills Mafia their first true look at game day in the new Highmark Stadium (no disrespect to the team’s intra-squad scrimmage). For the first time in a long time, fans will be clamoring to get their hands on preseason football tickets.
Of course the preseason will quickly shift to the regular season, where the weekly performance of our beloved Bills will have a direct impact on my mood for the following week. As my wife and kids will remind me, they love it when the Bills win.
So while the quiet time of the offseason is upon us, it won’t be long before we’re swooning over Kaleb Elarms-Orr highlights from training camp, counting down the days to the preseason opener, and overreacting to everything that Keon Coleman says and does. I can’t wait!
