BUFFALO, N.Y. — Here are my five thoughts on the Buffalo Bills’ preseason game against the Chicago Bears Saturday at Soldier Field:
1. It’s easy to respect the approach Sean McDermott is taking to the preseason.
The coach has few, if any, questions about who will be taking the field when his Buffalo Bills open the regular season on September 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Therefore, there’s virtually no need to play the majority of his regulars in games that don’t count. That was the case in last week’s preseason opener at Detroit and it will be the case again Saturday in Chicago.
Josh Allen and a majority of other starters will be spectators, while younger and other less-established players try to make their respective cases to be a part of the back half of the final 53-man roster.
What has been clear throughout training camp is that practices have provided McDermott and his coaching staff sufficient ability to prepare for the real thing. By most accounts, workouts have been mainly sharp, with Allen consistently making crisp and accurate throws. The sessions generally have moved at a good pace, with minimal stops for corrections.
That should be the case for a team that went 13-3, reached the AFC championship game and has all of its starters from last season.
2. Look for the Bills to again emphasize the run early in the game.
A week ago, Devin Singletary received a healthy number of carries in the first quarter and showed off the positive results of months of conditioning work he did in the offseason. The Bills’ reserve offensive linemen also did a solid job of opening holes while working against the Lions’ front-line defense.
On Saturday, Zack Moss, who had been sidelined with a hamstring injury, is expected to get his chance to carry the ball.
“How much of a load do we want to put on each guy?” McDermott said. “I listen to our trainers and I they feel he’s in a good enough spot and he’s had a couple of good days here and we’ll see how many reps will give him. Sometimes the flow of the game dictates that.”
Though Singletary and Moss are competing for the No. 1 spot in the backfield, the larger goal is to take advantage of the full-contact nature of a preseason game for the backs and linemen to get used to being tackled and blocking without the restrictions put in place for practice.
3. Mitchell Trubisky’s preseason debut with the Bills left plenty of fans wondering exactly what should make them comfortable about having him as the team’s new No. 2 QB.
Starting in place of Allen, Trubisky threw only two passes and completed one, for 10 yards. He spent most of his time handing off to Singletary.
The play-calling was part of the plan to allow the offense to work on running the ball, while also minimizing Trubisky’s exposure to hits. It makes sense for the Bills to at least make some effort to preserve the health of the man who is one snap away from being their starter.
Trubisky, who has thrown well in practice, figures to get a few more opportunities to show off his passing arm against his former team Saturday. But the Bills shouldn’t be too eager to subject him to a whole lot of punishment from the Bears’ aggressive defensive front.
The larger priority is sorting out what appears to be intense competition between Davis Webb and Jake Fromm for the No. 3 QB spot.
4. It’s hard not to feel some uneasiness when the team’s top receiver and one of its best players at any position is out with a knee injury.
With Stefon Diggs, the Bills’ offense is, well, the dynamic machine we witnessed through his first season with the team in 2020. Without him? It’s a thought neither the Bills nor their fans even want to ponder.
McDermott offered some encouragement this week when he said the Bills are looking for him to have a “more active role” on the field next week. Still, until Diggs is practicing at full speed, there will be at least some level of anxiety about his status.
We’re not there yet.
5. The impressive work defensive ends Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham did in their rookie preseason debuts last week was, first and foremost, a testament to their considerable talent.
But it also is a perfect example of the strong culture of leadership that exists in the locker room.
Even while sidelined at the start of camp with a calf injury from which he has recovered, veteran end Jerry Hughes took an active role in mentoring Rousseau and Basham. That included organizing a dinner with all the Bills’ defensive linemen at a Western New York steak house.
“None of them are really too shy or bashful when it comes to trying to figure something out – how can they get a competitive edge, what do they need to do as far as their diet, any kind of in game chat that they want to have,” Hughes said of his younger line mates. “They’re not shy to ask, and I think that’s just going to help build this team bond very quickly. But also, they’ll be able to go out there and just play fast and free.”
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