ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five thoughts on the Buffalo Bills’ preseason opener against the Detroit Lions Friday night at Ford Field:
1. As with all NFL teams, the Bills face a delicate balance when it comes to which players play and for how long during the preseason.
With three exhibition games, one fewer than before the switch from a 16- to 17-game regular-season schedule, the timetable for preparing starters for the real thing and evaluating who to keep on the final roster is compressed. Sean McDermott calls it “the uniqueness of this preseason.”
But one thing is clear: McDermott isn’t all that concerned about using the Detroit game as any sort of preparation tool for when the Bills start playing for keeps on Sept. 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He shouldn’t be. The Bills’ starting lineup is effectively set, as are their offensive and defensive systems with coordinators Brian Daboll and Leslie Frazier back for at least another season after being passed over in last head-coach hiring cycle.
Though some starters will receive action, the most vital of them, quarterback Josh Allen won’t. That’s smart. Nothing Allen would do Friday night – or in any of the preseason games, for that matter -- is going to enhance his readiness for the season more than the time he and the rest of the offense have put in during training camp practices. He has a thorough grasp of the playbook and already has developed good timing with most of his receivers. His newest key target, Emmanuel Sanders, is a 12-year veteran who is hardly in considerable tune-up work.
With rosters due to be reduced from 90 to 85 by Tuesday, McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane want Friday night to serve as a means of taking last looks at players on the early bubble, while giving those on their way out a chance to have some game video for other potential employers to see.
Meanwhile, Lions coach Dan Campbell plans to have his starters on the field for roughly a quarter. That doesn’t seem all that prudent, but Campbell is making his debut at the helm of the team and is desperate to make a favorable first impression.
2. Jake Fromm will benefit greatly from likely getting the most snaps of the Bills’ three quarterbacks not named Josh Allen.
After joining the Bills last year as a fifth-round draft pick from Georgia, Fromm not only was, along with all other players in the league, shut out from offseason workouts and denied the chance to play in the preseason because of the pandemic, but he also spent his rookie year separated from the team as its “quarantine quarterback.”
The Bills are eager to see how Fromm performs in his first taste of a competitive NFL setting. Even while working with a vanilla game plan against a vanilla defense, Fromm will be facing frontline defenders for about a quarter.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” McDermott said. “You try and simulate it out here the best you can, but there’s still something to be said for playing a game in front of a crowd and in real-game situations. It has been a while for Jake, and probably a few others as well, so it’ll be a good opportunity for them.”
3. Another aspect of the three-game preseason is its impact on the daily practice plan in training camp.
The Bills, as with the rest of the teams in the league, have been conscious about incorporating more game-simulation work to account for having one fewer game on the preseason schedule and the need to devote more preseason action to reserve players.
“We feel like we know a portion of our roster,” McDermott said. “From the work we’ve put in the last two days and particularly some of those starters, we’re getting them in shape and they’re getting experience and the experience they need … Josh, with his receivers, I feel like they’re in a pretty good place.
“They’re not ready yet, we’re not ready yet, but in order for us to put this thing together the right way, we’ve got to make sure we know the back half of our roster and those opportunities are starting to narrow. So, we’ve got to make sure that Friday night is a chance we can do that.”
4. I’m looking forward to seeing how rookie tackle Spencer Brown performs in what will represent an initial exposure to the massive leap from Northern Iowa to the NFL.
So far, most of the conversation about him has been about his size. Even on a pro football team, his 6-foot-8, 311-pound frame causes him to stand out. Now, we get to see whether the behemoth who dominated at a mid-major school holds up against the best of the best.
The Bills’ third-round draft pick hasn’t played a game since 2019, because the Missouri Valley Conference canceled its schedule due to Covid-19. At Lenox, Iowa, High School, he played eight-man football and received all-district recognition on offense and defense. He also lettered in basketball and baseball.
Brown has been able to get a good deal of practice time while Dion Dawkins was on the reserve/Covid list, from which he was activated Thursday.
“I think Spencer’s off to a great start,” McDermott said. “He’s held his own in there against some good competition. And now with Jerry (Hughes) back (from a calf injury), it’s given him another look at what a veteran defensive end looks like from that side, in particular. It’s been good for him to get the reps he’s got.”
5. McDermott seems to have done his part to pump the breaks on outside discussion that the Bills need an upgrade at tight end.
Asked if, with all of the strong pass-catching options on the roster, the team needs its version of a Rob Gronkowski, the coach said, “Well, I mean, Josh is always gonna throw to who’s open. He does a great job with that. And it’s important that we stay balanced with that and stay two-dimensional, if you will, that as the passing game goes, it’s not just one position – that we can spread the ball around to the tight ends, to the backs. The better you do that, the harder you are to defend.”
Translation: The Bills don’t have a crying need for a singular, transformative player at tight end. Not as long as Stefon Diggs and the other receivers continually get open, which will help create space for other targets when necessary to incorporate them into the offense.
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the team could still address the position via trade, but it doesn’t seem nearly as likely as it did at the start of the offseason. And the fact is the Bills had the NFL’s No. 2 scoring offense, No. 2 offense in total yards and third-best passing attack in 2020. Those numbers don’t exactly make for a compelling case for the need to get better at tight end.